


Episode 2-12 - "Common Ground"

by stgjr



Series: Undiscovered Frontier Season 2 - "Whispers of Destiny" [12]
Category: Mass Effect, Original Work
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-14 20:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 38,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11215407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: The Koenig comes to the assistance of alien wanderers during training exercises with the Citadel races; Robert and his crew attempt to negotiate peace with the Batarian Hegemony.





	1. Chapter 1

**Teaser**  
  
_Ship's Log: ASV Koenig; 10 August 2642. Commander Zachary Carrey recording. We've been detached from the_ Aurora _to take part in a joint training exercise with members of the Citadel Council races' special forces. We're currently on our way to the rendezvous point to meet with the ships carrying the strike teams we'll be hosting aboard for the duration of the exercise.  
  
Given that we have already embarked Commander Kane and a team of his Marines from the _Aurora _, my little ship is approaching standing-room-only in available living space. But we'll make do._  
  
The mess hall on the _Koenig_ was now split in half, much to the irritation of the crew of the attack ship. Wall partitions set up by engineering crews from the _Aurora_ had turned half of the space once used by the crew for communal eating into a bunk room for the incoming special forces troops.  
  
Zack finished a grilled chicken sandwich at one of the remaining tables. Across from him, Tom Barnes and Magda Navaez, both Lieutenants and serving as his Chief Engineer and Operations Officer respectively, were sharing complaints about the situation. "Hot-bunking, I mean… it's bad enough that the sleeping spaces are like frakking closets." Barnes was frowning intently. "Now we'll have people sleeping in our bunks when we're on duty."  
  
"You think you have it tough? Do you have any idea what all of these extra people are doing to the life support systems?" Magda asked before taking a bite of chicken soup.  
  
"Uh, yeah, actually, I do," Barnes retorted. "I had to spend half a day installing additional life support tanks to ensure we have the capacity we need." After a moment of considering his grilled chicken sub, he added, "And why are we all eating chicken anyway?"  
  
"Habit?" Zack proposed. He finished another bite and said, "I'm not really a tuna guy, and if you ask me, the replicators never get pork or beef right. But they're good with chicken."  
  
"I just want to get these exercises over with." Magda gave him a look. "Why did you volunteer us for this again?"  
  
"Okay, one?" Zack held up a finger. "I didn't volunteer us. Robert and Admiral Maran did. I just didn't object. Two…" He brought up another finger. "...I think we could use the practice. Most of our operations lately have been simple combat support. We could use a week of prolonged operations to get the new crewmembers situated. Finally, three…"  
  
Just as Zack lifted his third finger, Barnes chimed in with, "...we don't have to get sucked into whatever diplomatic niceties the others are going to go through with the frakking Batarians."  
  
Zack nodded in Barnes' direction. "I hate that damned dress uniform. Plus, let's face it, our first contact with the Batarians consisted of this ship shooting them in the face."  
  
"After they raided Yamalia for slaves," Magda reminded him. Her expression darkened.  
  
"Pretty much." Zack wolfed down the last bit of his sandwich. "Anyway, I think my point is made."  
  
"It is. I just…"  
  
" _Bridge to Commander Carrey_." The voice was that of Ensign Jean Hajar, the navigation/engineering dual-specialty officer who was one of the sixteen or so actual officers or officer-candidates on the ship. A former Starfleet officer, she was relatively new to the crew herself. " _Sir, we've arrived at the rendezvous point. The_ Tokyo _and_ Ravelicus _are already here and waiting to commence transport._ "  
  
"I'm on my way to the transporter station," Zack said. "Go ahead and let Kane know to meet me there."  
  
" _Yes sir._ "  
  
"You two enjoy the rest of your lunch," Zack said. "It's time for me to go meet the guests."  
  
  
  
  
Commander Kane met Zack at the Transporter Station. It was located on Deck 1 just aft of the central lift station that would take them to the bridge deck if they wanted. A teal-complexioned, blue-spotted Dorei man was at the controls, with the rank insignia of a technical officer. "We are ready to commence transport, sir."  
  
"Begin."  
  
The first five arrivals appeared in bright columns of white light joined by a loud buzz.  
  
From the briefing Zack already recognized the Turian officer in charge for the entire effort. "General Victus." He extended a hand. "Welcome to the _Koenig_."  
  
General Adrien Victus extended his own hand, with its two main fingers and an opposable thumb making Zack think of birds or dinosaurs. "Thank you, Commander. Allow me to introduce Guard Captain Vidinos." He extended his other hand to the second Turian with him. "He's in charge of our special forces team."  
  
"Commander." Vidinos remained still, spine ramrod straight. It was clear he wasn't about to shake hands.  
  
"Captain."  
  
"This is Nisia B'Rani," Victus continued, indicating a serene-looking Asari woman in a plain, functional green bodysuit clearly made as a uniform. "She is the commander of Talein's Daughters, the Asari Commando unit for this operation."  
  
"Commander." Nisia accepted Zack's hand. "A pleasure. My unit has worked with Humans before. I'm looking forward to continuing that with you."  
  
"Of course." Zack nodded. "Welcome aboard."  
  
Next was a Salarian male, wearing a blue-and-white suit of basic Salarian design. "Major Jato Lediks, Salarian Special Task Group 2nd Regiment," he said, beating Victus to the introduction. "It will be interesting to see your vessel in operation. It appears to have some distinctive characteristics that are not part of the standard Alliance _Trigger_ -class design."  
  
"The _Koenig_ is one of a kind," Zack boasted.  
  
That left the final figure. And given the smile that appeared on Kane's face, Zack was pretty sure of who the tan-skinned, red-headed woman in the Systems Alliance Navy uniform was. "Commander Shepard," he said, extending his hand as she stepped down from the transporter. "Welcome aboard."  
  
Shepard accepted his hand with a grin. "Glad to be here."  
  
  
  
  
Four hours and a mass relay jump later, the _Koenig_ was already underway and in interstellar space. Zack was in the conference room, the only one for his ship, with Victus and the others in attendance, along with Commander Kane. "I hope you enjoyed the tour, sir," he said after sitting down.  
  
"Thank you for providing it, Commander." Victus sat in the chair opposite from Zack. "Your ship is the perfect vehicle for this training operation with its cloaking device and stealth capability."  
  
"I trust your teams are getting situated?" Zack asked the assembled commanders.  
  
The others confirmed quickly. Vidinos went beyond a mere affirmation or nod. "I'm pleasantly surprised, actually. From my experience, Allied System ships are far too soft. It undermines discipline."  
  
Zack tried to keep his smile from becoming a smirk. "There's a lot of variation between species, I guess."  
  
Kane chimed in at that point. "I have it on good authority the Klingons sleep on wooden planks."  
  
Whatever point Vidinos had been trying to score hadn't come through. The Turian captain settled back in his seat. From her seat, Shepard gave Zack and Kane a slight grin.  
  
"The exercises will take place on a number of planets in this cluster," Victus continued. "The goal will be to test infiltration, assault, and recovery missions on a number of targets guarded by Citadel-aligned security units. Each team will be assigned a specific sector and related mission. While you will operate independently, your efforts will be in support of one another. The _Koenig_ will participate through provision of tactical data to ground teams and evading detection by opposing space forces. Are there any questions?"  
  
"How realistic is this going to be?" asked Zack. "Are we talking live fire, dummy rounds or simulated?"  
  
"It will be non-damaging fire," Victus confirmed. "Our simulation computers are still being upgraded to take into account the various capabilities of your ships. We can't have an accurate simulated fire exercise."  
  
"Understood, General."  
  
"Now, tactical assignments will…"  
  
Before Victus could finish his sentence, a tone went off over the ship's comm system. " _Bridge to Commander Carrey_." This time the voice was Lieutenant Creighton Apley, Zack's First Officer. " _Sir, we just picked up an automated distress signal from a nearby star system. It's from a ship IDed as the_ Nartalis, _and it says they're under attack._ "  
  
Zack nodded and stood up. "Set an intercept course at maximum warp, Lieutenant, and engage. Go to Code Red. I'll be on the bridge shortly."  
  
" _Aye sir_." As Apley finished speaking, a deep electronic klaxon sounded over the speakers in the conference room. Even here the sound of a few pairs of running feet could be heard outside, as off-duty _Koenig_ crew raced to their battlestations.  
  
"Sorry, General, but I'm needed on my bridge."  
  
"We'll join you," Victus said as he stood up. "I'd like to see what's going on for myself. This could present a security risk for our exercises."  
  
Zack nodded. "Understood, General. If you'll follow me…?"  
  
  
  
  


**Undiscovered Frontier  
_"Common Ground"_**

  


The _Koenig_ was still at warp when Zack stepped onto the bridge, followed by General Victus, Shepard, and all of the others. They took up unused standing positions near the rear of the bridge while Zack went for his command chair. Apley replaced Hajar at the helm. Hajar, in turn, manned the engineering control station. "Report," Zack said.  
  
"We're still about two minutes out at current speed," Apley said.  
  
At the tactical station, Lieutenant April Sherlily said, "Phasers on standby, solar torpedoes loading."  
  
"Cloaking device is already engaged." Magda was settling in at Ops, having arrived just ahead of Zack and the others. "Long range sensors confirms the presence of at least one vessel, unknown configuration and power signature, and what looks like a Turian-built personal scout ship. But I've never seen this design before."  
  
"It may be an older model in service to a private contractor," Victus said. "Some of the mercenary and local government organizations in this region buy our surplus and modify our equipment to fit their needs."  
  
Zack nodded in appreciation of the answer.  
  
"There's more to it," Magda said. "The distress call is going out in Citadel standard, but the underlying communications protocols and language standard aren't in the system."  
  
"Let me see." Vidinos stepped up to Magda's station. Magda gave Zack an uncomfortable look, and he nodded in reply. Magda indicated her monitor with the data on the distress call on it.  
  
Zack was already getting a feeling Vidinos was something of an ass, but he was still shocked to hear the dismissive chuckle that came from the Turian commander. "Commander, this is a waste of time. Don't bother answering the distress signal," Vidinos announced.  
  
Zack looked at him with surprise. So, indeed, did others on the bridge. "What do you mean?"  
  
"The signal's not from any of the proper Citadel species," Vidinos announced. "It's Quarian. They're probably running from whomever they've stolen from lately. We've got more urgent matters to deal with."  
  
A very fragile, very tense quiet settled onto the bridge. Zack stood from his chair and faced Vidinos. "Captain Vidinos," he began quietly, moving within a few inches of the Turian's green eyes, "I don't know about how you handle things in your command, but on my ship, we _answer_ distress calls, no matter who's sending them. That is, in fact, one of our standing orders and required by the regulations of the Alliance Stellar Navy. And I bet it's standing orders for the Turian military too."  
  
"You would be correct, Commander," General Victus said with firm approval in his voice. That approval turned to disapproval when he spoke again. "Captain Vidinos, I will speak with you when this is over. For now, step away from the station and let Commander Carrey and his crew do their jobs."  
  
"Yes, General." Vidinos stepped over to the General and remained silent, but nothing suggested he was apologetic for what he had said.  
  
By the time Zack returned to his seat, Apley was already beginning to speak. "We're coming up on the source of the distress signal now. Dropping us out of warp."  
  
The hull thrummed as the warp engines disengaged. The cloaked attack ship slowed to sublight velocity toward a patch of asteroid belt in a G-sequence star system.  
  
The holo-viewer came on and showed a brown-tinted ship slightly larger than the _Koenig_ weaving around one asteroid. A much smaller craft was doing the same, clearly trying to avoid the larger ship.  
  
"The ship matches a common profile for Batarian raiders," Magda said. "But the power readings are all off. She's definitely not standard."  
  
"Bring us in on an attack run vector," Zack said. But even as he prepared to give the order to decloak and fire, he stopped himself. _With the diplomatic talks due to start, I can't afford to cause an incident. We still don't know what's going on here_. "Prepare to hail the Batarian ship as soon as we decloak."  
  
"Sir?" Magda looked back at him. "We're giving up the element of surprise?"  
  
"I can't afford to command an unprovoked attack on a Batarian ship right now, not with these talks going on," he insisted, even though Zack didn't quite believe in what he was doing. "April, standby to fire when I give the order."  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
"Magda…. disengage cloaking device. Open a general channel." After hearing her console give the confirming tone, Zack immediately said, "Attention Batarian vessel, this is the Alliance _Starship Koenig_. We are invest-"  
  
Before he could finish the Batarian ship violently spun about to face them, showing more maneuverability than any M4P2 ship Zack had seen before. "Wait, that's not possible," Apley insisted. "The Batarians…"  
  
A moment later the _Koenig_ shuddered violently while yellow-orangish energy beams slammed against its shields.  
  
Zack felt the tremor through the ship that resulted from the hit. "What the hell… evasive maneuvers! Return fire when able!"  
  
The _Koenig_ corkscrewed to avoid another barrage of energy beams from the Batarian ship. Her own powerful pulse phaser cannons opened up with their furious amber light. They quickly crossed the space between the ships…  
  
...and were stopped by a crackle of yellow energy.  
  
Another barrage of energy shots hit the _Koenig_. "Shields at ninety percent." Magda was shaking her head. "That energy signature… they're firing _Ferengi_ weapons. And they have standard deflectors."  
  
" _What?_ " Zack stared at her in a moment of surprise.  
  
"They're coming in, full speed," Apley warned.  
  
"They might have shields, but we've got pulse phaser cannons, and I'm willing to bet a ship that size can't power shields enough to stop our best hits." Zack focused his attention back on the viewer. "Attack Plan Romeo. Now!"  
  
The _Koenig_ turned and maneuvered sharply as more energy beams sought it out in space. Occasional hits drained the shields of the attack ship further. But Apley was a great pilot, and Zack's chosen maneuver was meant to take advantage of the _Koenig's_ superior agility as a space vehicle. At the end of the wide corkscrew maneuver Apley pulled the ship into, the ship flipped "downward" and, in the process, brought the main phaser battery back into alignment with the enemy ship.  
  
This time Sherlily fired everything she could. A full-powered phaser barrage battered at the other ship. Her shields started to compensate.  
  
But the barrage continued, focused on the same area of the enemy ship's shields thanks to Apley's piloting and Sherlily's aim. From the forward launchers a pair of solar torpedoes raced out, and then another. The four projectiles, wreathed in white-blue light that made them look like energy projectiles, struck the Batarian ship's shields.  
  
Save the last one. It hit bare hull.  
  
An explosion blasted a large chunk from the enemy ship. At first there was no immediate sign of further damage and a parting shot from the _Koenig_ 's dorsal phaser array hit the shields. But after several seconds the Batarian ship suddenly lost power, as was confirmed by Magda. "I'm picking up severe power fluctuations. I think the hits to the shields and the hull overwhelmed the ability of their systems to handle the strain. Their main power systems have failed completely and I'm detecting feedback damage to their sublight drives. I'd say they're crippled."  
  
"What's the status on that other ship?"  
  
Magda was already checking her instruments. "I'm reading severe damage to the entire craft. I think it might have an eezo leak somewhere. I'd recommend we evacuate the occupants to our infirmary."  
  
"Transport them immediately, and inform Doctor Opani she's getting guests."  
  
"Yes sir." Magda sent the relevant commands.  
  
"And what about the Batarian vessel?" asked Victus. It was clear from his tone of voice that it was just simply a question, but Zack knew that his decision here would be scrutinized regardless.  
  
"We don't have the capacity for holding a lot of prisoners." Zack took a moment to consider things. "General, we can beam over some of your people to take over the ship. If you don't mind throwing off our training schedule we could even see about towing them, or waiting until a friendly ship can come and take over."  
  
"Given the circumstances, I think a diversion is in order. Carry on."  
  
Zack nodded. "Magda, please inform Systems Alliance command of our current status. We're closest to their space here. Inform them we'd like a cruiser to come out and take over for us."  
  
"Sending transmission."  
  
"Commander Kane." Zack turned his chair to face Kane. "Would you mind taking over that ship for me?"  
  
"I'll assemble my team. Commander Shepard?"  
  
"I'll get mine," she said. "We'll gear up and meet you at the Transporter Station."  
  
"I would like to see this vessel for myself," Major Lediks said. "I will join your team."  
  
Zack nodded. "Of course. And let us know if we need to scrounge up another watchman or two."  
  
Kane, Shepard, and Lediks left the bridge. Zack shifted in his chair to try and get comfortable. But he was having trouble doing it. The weapons used, the technology… it was disconcerting to say the least.  
  
"The Batarians have been embargoed by the Citadel for years," Victus said. "The fact that they possess technology from other universes means they've found a way around that. It is vital we learn what we can."  
  
"We'll take the next step when they've secured the ship. In the meantime, I'm going to write my report." Zack stood. "Ap, you have the bridge, I'll be in my office."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Commander." Hajar stood. "They may need an engineering officer to help secure the ship and examine whatever they find over there. I'd like to volunteer."  
  
Zack considered it. Lediks was going to provide that… but he was clearly doing it for his own purposes, or rather, Salarian purposes. Having an Alliance officer to report on what the Batarians had on the ship? He didn't want to pass that up. "Alright. Go report to Commander Kane."  
  
"I'll send up Ensign Driik while I'm at it." Hajar's offer would permit Apley to take the center chair once Zack was gone.  
  
"You do that, Ensign."  
  
Hajar nodded and walked off the bridge. Zack watched her go and looked back at the viewer image of the Batarian ship and the crippled little Turian, or rather Quarian, ship. _So where are the Batarians getting this technology?_ he wondered.  
  
" _Opani to Bridge_ ," came the accented voice of Doctor Roliri Opani, the young Dorei physician serving as the _Koenig_ 's medical officer.  
  
"Go ahead," Zack said.  
  
" _I've gone over our patients in the infirmary. One is in pretty bad shape, but I think I can stabilize him. The other is doing well and should be awake in an hour or so_."  
  
"Let me know when I can talk to at least one of them."  
  
" _Yes sir_."  
  
With nothing more to do, Zack left the bridge. He gave the ship one last glance and let himself think of what it might mean for what the others were dealing with.  
  
 _Sorry Rob, Julia, but we may have just made your jobs far more complicated._  
  
  
  
  
The Mass Relay System had shaped space exploration and settlement in the M4P2 Universe's Milky Way. The various star-faring civilizations had galactic-scale reach due to the mass relays, but despite this they took up barely 1% of the galaxy's volume. The nature of mass effect-derived FTL meant that ships had difficulties traveling at FTL velocities beyond relatively-short interstellar distances.  
  
Gradually, Multiversal Contact would change this, as warp drive and other FTL systems like F1S1's Kearny-Fuchida hyperdrive were providing for greater range beyond the mass relays. But for the time being, with the exception of the Allied Systems' colonial zone in the Skyllian Verge, all space settlement and indeed activity happened within only a few parsecs of a mass relay.  
  
This was why the _Aurora_ could be a quarter of the galaxy away from the _Koenig_ \- a distance that would take years to travel at the highest warp speeds even the _Aurora_ could manage _-_ waiting near a mass relay in the Attican Traverse just one mass relay jump away from the lawless, anarchic Terminus Systems.  
  
She wasn't alone. Nearby a Batarian dreadnought had already arrived via the mass relay. It was launching one of its craft while both sides maintained a tense civility. No shields, no kinetic barriers, and no weapons were active… for now.  
  
As the Marines still on _Aurora_ stood to attention, and the bizarre, somber, and brassily-strong tones of an alien anthem started playing rhythmically over the hanger bay PA, Robert Dale looked over his dress whites and decided he wanted to hate Zack for taking the easy job. Living on the _Koenig_ for a week plus and dealing with ground exercises and simulated combat sounded a lot better than what he and the others were about to go through.  
  
The importance of the occasion was easily confirmed, as Foreign Secretary Onaran was already aboard and waiting with Robert and Julia. Due to cultural reasons it was deemed essential that all ceremonial and protocol elements for receiving foreign diplomatic delegations be upheld.  
  
The craft that landed in the bay was a squat, ugly gray craft with mass effect-derived drives. It came to a virtually perfect landing at the assigned spot, barely twenty feet from Robert. After a number of seconds the doors opened and armored infantry stepped out, holding guns at what looked like a variation of parade rest.  
  
The armored infantry were in helmets, so their faces weren't visible. The same couldn't be said for the delegation that stepped out. It was the first time Robert had seen a Batarian in the flesh before. Their heads had a bisecting ridge of cartilage that went over the top and presumably back down the back of the head, with no visible nose but rather nostrils embedded directly into the front of the face. Fine hair covered parts of the front of the face, giving parts of the pale brown skin a fuzzy look. Four dark, iris-less eyes looked about, taking in all of the sights with care.  
  
Finally the Batarian man stepped forward. "I am Captain Robert Dale," Robert said, "Commanding Officer of the Alliance _Starship Aurora_. This is my First Officer, Commander Julia Andreys. And joining me is Foreign Secretary Lentiro Onaran."  
  
For a moment there was no response. When the Batarian finally spoke, it was with a deep voice with a guttural element that was clearly not in other humanoid voices Robert knew. "I am Tahrad am Rimhar, Minister of Diplomatic Exchange for the Batarian Hegemony." By opening his mouth Tahrad had shown that Batarian teeth were pointed and sharp. "My people welcome this chance to settle our misunderstandings with the United Alliance of Systems."  
  
Robert refrained from speaking the thought in his head. The thought that the Batarian idea of "misunderstanding" actually meant repeated raids by Batarian-backed slavers and pirates against Alliance colonies across the Skyllian Verge. The attacks had petered off during the course of the year, true, but that seemed to be due to the increased presence of Systems Alliance and Stellar Navy fleet units, and the improving defenses on colonies and other Alliance installations that made raids ineffective.  
  
Onaran was the height of diplomacy, however, avoiding that blunt truth by stating, "The Alliance welcomes the Batarian government's diplomatic initiative. We hope that a permanent settlement can end the strife between our governments and pave the way for further ties with the Batarian people."  
  
Robert could sense the immense bemusement Tahrad had at that statement, mixed with contempt as he tilted his head slightly to the right. Onaran sounded naive but he imagined that was the intent. The Dorei was drawing the Batarian out to test his reaction. If he felt any of what Robert was feeling, he would know that his sentiment was useless. Tahrad may be here to negotiate an agreement, but it wasn't going to any paving of the way for a closer future sort of thing. The Batarians, for whatever reason, thought they could get more out of diplomacy than upping the ante with their support of the slaver and pirate raiders.  
  
Something about that worried him. But Robert wasn't sure what it was. He focused on his duties for the moment. "We're still waiting for the arrival of the Citadel Council's delegate to the talks," he said. "But until then, we have refreshments ready in Conference Room 1. Commander Andreys and Commander Meridina will escort you and your entourage."  
  
Meridina showed no reaction to that, but Julia gave him a slightly sardonic look before she gave a diplomatic nod to the Minister and led him, and his bodyguards and aides, on their way.  
  
Robert and Onaran followed enough to get out of earshot of the guards who stayed behind at the Minister's shuttle. "This is not going to be easy, is it?" Robert asked.  
  
"Certainly not," Onaran lamented. "The Batarians are merely taking their conflict with us to another theater. I have no doubt that their proposals will be unacceptable and their threats violent if we fail to give them everything they want."  
  
"So why are we doing this again?"  
  
"Optimism from President Morgan. Perhaps the right mix of acceptable concessions will provide us with relief from the Batarians' criminal proxies." Onaran sighed. "And it will appease Senator Pensley's peace faction, of course."  
  
Robert matched the sigh. "Of course." As they walked out of the landing deck to head for Conference Room 1, Robert found himself wishing he had joined Zack on the _Koenig_ for those training ops. _Even a bunk to sleep in sounds preferable to this diplomatic wheeling and dealing_. _And whatever's going on with that, Zack has to be having an easier time than we are_.  
  
  
  
  
Zack had just about finished up his report when the ship's comm system activated. " _Opani to Carrey. Our patient is awake_."  
  
"I'm on my way." He stood up from his desk and left his mostly-finished report to be completed later. He ventured to the lift and down to Deck 2. It was not a long walk to get to the infirmary.  
  
The _Koenig_ 's infirmary was hardly the expansive, state-of-the-art medical facilities that Leo oversaw on the _Aurora_ , complete with a team of trained physicians and surgeons. It was a small unit with about twelve beds overall, two of them set up for immediate intensive care, and in the far corner an emergency surgical theater. As Opani had frequently told him, the _Koenig_ 's infirmary wasn't made for heavier casualties. There just wasn't enough space.  
  
Opani had two nurses from the crew on staff. As with many crew, they were cross-trained in other specialties. Right now both were on duty attending to the Quarians they'd picked up. The unconscious one was in a white and red-hued suit, with a nurse obediently checking on him.  
  
Doctor Opani was standing beside the other Quarian. Her dark teal complexion, one of the darkest teals in the spectrum of Dorei skin colors, was contrasted with the light purple of the spots running around the rim of her face and down her neck. Her dark purple hair was pulled into a ponytail at the back of her head.  
  
Zack knew that not every species had the same division of sexual characteristics as Humans and other Human-like species did. The Alakin and the Turians immediately came to mind on that point. The Quarians, however, did not, as the Quarian sitting on the biobed had very clear feminine traits. Which, he supposed, could be something entirely different for another species - Tom Barnes had often joked about the idea of finding a species where the males had the natural busts - but he figured this wasn't the case. Or would at least he would find out shortly. "Doctor, how is our patient?"  
  
"Alive and healthy. Unlike her poor friend. His suit had a number of breaches that I had to patch up with the help of our replicator," Opani said. "She was of great assistance in the matter."  
  
"Suit repair is something every Quarian learns early on," the female Quarian said. Her suit was dark blue and light violet in coloration with a band over the right shoulder and under the left arm. "For us, it can be a matter of life and death." Her accented voice was distorted electronically by the helmet of her environmental suit, with a light flashing as she spoke. Twin eyes shined through the dark color of the helmet face. "And I'm worried that he might still get an infection."  
  
"Their immune systems are terribly weak," Opani said. "So I'm going to be working hard to keep our other patient from dying."  
  
"Good, do what you can" he said to Opani before looking to the Quarian girl. "So, welcome, you're aboard the Alliance _Starship Koenig_. I'm Commander Zachary Carrey, the Commanding Officer. I'm pleased to meet you." He offered his hand.  
  
After a moment's uncertainty and hesitation, the Quarian girl took the hand and let him have a brief handshake. "Thank you, Commander, for saving us from the Batarians. And I have some information you'll want to see. It may be why they attacked us."  
  
"I'll be happy to look at it, Miss…"  
  
"Oh." The Quarian made a disapproving sound. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar _Rayya_."  
  
  
  
  
Conference Room 1 on the _Aurora_ was no stranger to diplomatic negotiations. Robert considered how many they had already held in the spacious room located toward the rear of the primary hull, on Deck 14. Back in the day, before they knew for sure the Alliance would be formed, Carlton Farmer had included the conference and briefing rooms in the _Aurora_ because it was to be the Facility's flagship, their standard-bearer, and that would require it to fulfill many roles that a normal starship might not be as equipped to perform.  
  
And it was certainly a benefit to have it here, now, for these talks with the Batarians.  
  
The surprise was that, as diplomatic negotiations went, this one was surprisingly quiet while being completely ineffectual. That was new: usually quiet meant general mutual agreement and respect, with dispassionate quibbling over minor details, while ineffectual talks tended to be full of passion and vitriol.  
  
Tahrad am Rimhar looked almost bored as the preliminary discussions continued. The arrival of the Citadel Council's appointed representative and mediator would be the herald for full talks to begin, of course, but that hadn't stopped Onaran from trying to lay the groundwork while they waited. "It is not the purpose of the Alliance to block off any avenue of Batarian expansion. There are still other systems in the region where the Hegemony can easily assert a claim and presence."  
  
"You miss the point, Minister Onaran." Rimhar kept his hands separate on the table. "The Batarian Hegemony has had legitimate territorial claims in the Skyllian Verge for centuries. If anyone determines who may settle which system, it should be us. Your people have already taken over several star systems we intended to colonize in the coming years."  
  
"We found no indications of such intentions," Onaran answered. "You left no claim markers. No buoys. No outposts. Nothing to indicate to anyone that the system had been claimed. Our settlements were made in good faith."  
  
"Good faith is irrelevant. You have taken worlds that the Batarian people have greater rights to. And we insist that you withdraw from those worlds."  
  
"It would seem that we have one another's starting negotiating positions in mind now."  
  
Robert lifted a hand as a motion he wanted to speak. When both ministers glanced his way, he leaned forward. "The territorial issues aside, what I would like to know is if you can guarantee that our people will never be subjected to slavery in your territories, and if the Hegemony will assist in suppressing the illegal trade in sentient beings."  
  
A thin smile crossed the four-eyed alien's face. "I see you share the obsessions of the Citadel Council in this matter. I will tell you what we have long told them. What you call slavery is a respected and honored practice in our culture. The obligation of labor from those of lower status to those of higher status. We will not dismantle millennia of our heritage to satisfy alien hypocrisy."  
  
Julia was quick to response. "Hypocrisy?"  
  
"Your species all complain about slavery, but you all indulge in it. You simply refer to it as other names. Surely you have heard of the Asari-run planet Illum? They call it indentured servitude, but it is slavery. Beyond Illum, the Terminus Systems are full of members of the Citadel's species, and slavery is just as common there as it is in the Hegemony." Taraht clearly thought he was on a roll, and before anyone could object he continued. "Your own societies recognize this principle. Those of higher status force the rest to work for them. You compel labor from your criminals just as we do."  
  
"Even convicted criminals still have basic rights," Robert answered. "And that includes not having an implant forced into your head to take away control of your own body."  
  
"That simply means that you compound your hypocrisy with weakness."  
  
Robert felt a surge of anger at the callous remark, and the tone behind it. But the way Tahrad seemed almost bored by the discussion held him back.  
  
"As for your people being taken, the Hegemony does not condone slave-raiding into worlds with organized governments," Tahrad continued. "There are certain laws and rules that regulate the addition of new slaves to the Hegemony's economy. Of course, your worlds fall into a gray area due to our pre-existing claims upon them, and I cannot guarantee that overzealous agents of the Hegemony will refrain from deciding your presence on our worlds is sufficient justification for enslavement. It is clear from the first contact of our civilizations that criminals are willing to take the chance."  
  
The reference to the attack on the Dorei colony of Yamalia was hardly the most subtle threat on the issue. Tahrad was being wordy and legalistic with that threat, but he had still issued it: withdraw from worlds we want or we'll continue to raid your worlds for slaves.  
  
Julia once again spoke in reply, and there was no mistaking the smirk on her face. "Yes, they did take that chance. But I wonder how many decided not to bother anymore after what happened to those first raiders."  
  
There was a slight slip in Tahrad's smile. Robert could feel the irritation the Batarian felt at being reminded of what happened when the _Koenig_ , under Julia's command, had stopped the slave-raiders with the help of the _SSV Tokyo_.  
  
Before any further conversation could be continued, a beep filled the room courtesy of the ship's communications system. Nick Locarno's voice came over the speaker a second later. " _Bridge to Captain Dale_."  
  
Robert noticed most of the sets of eyes in the room focus on him. He definitely had the room's attention. He tapped the blinking blue light his omnitool was displaying over the back of his hand. "Dale here. Go ahead, Commander Locarno."  
  
" _An Asari personal yacht just came through the mass relay. They're requesting permission to dock._ "  
  
"How big of a personal yacht? Can they go in the main shuttlebay?"  
  
" _She looks like she'll fit into the support ship dock._ "  
  
"Well, with the _Koenig_ gone, we're not using it for anything else. Go ahead and permit them docking clearance. Tell them I'll be there shortly to escort the Matriarch aboard."  
  
" _Doing so now._ "  
  
With the call ended Robert stood up. "Excuse me, everyone. I'm going to bring in our mediator."  
  
No protests were made and he left. Robert made his way aft to the docking port for the _Aurora_ 's support ship dock, the _Koenig_ 's usual place. By the time he arrived the Asari ship was already docked. It was colored a deep purple and looked far too small for the dock's space, but was still large enough that it would never have fit in the shuttle bay or the fighters' hanger bay. Something of the shape reminded him almost of a manta ray.  
  
His arrival coincided with an honor guard and the presence of Commander Meridina. All was ready when the dock door slid open.  
  
A few Asari figures filed out, most wearing fancy, beautifully-colored jumpsuits. They were arrayed around a central Asari, a blue-skinned woman in a fancy black suit, one that was as inelegant as it was moderately immodest, with a cut-out part on the chest displaying part of her cleavage.  
  
Beside her was the one sight Robert didn't expect. A Turian was with the company. He was of a striking gray complexion and wearing a suit that looked more like combat armor than formal wear. He looked at Robert with ice-blue eyes and an intent behind them…  
  
There was something about him. Something Robert was sure he'd seen before. But he couldn't think of what it was.  
  
If he had been given time to dig into his memories, then an identification might have been made, but he caught himself. Protocol was going to be critical here. "I'm Captain Robert Dale of the Alliance _Starship Aurora_." He smiled diplomatically and nodded. "Matriarch Benezia?"  
  
"Indeed, Captain." The Asari's voice had a husky timbre to it, and the translation systems were treating it as a refined accent. "I received word that you have already received the Batarian delegation?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am. We haven't started negotiations proper yet. Secretary Onaran and Minister am Rimhar are doing some preliminary discussions on our governments' current positions."  
  
In an instant Robert knew that was not going over well. He could sense the instinctive distrust from the Turian. Benezia was a blank slate in that regard. "I expected you would do such," Benezia said. "This is your government's first proper diplomatic contact with the Batarians. But I hope you realize the Citadel Council may find this suspicious behavior. There are those who would argue that you could be looking to make your own deal."  
  
"It is what I would expect, honestly," the Turian said. "Humans have always been an aggressive, impatient species."  
  
"We've been logging the discussions to reassure you of the contrary, Madame Matriarch." Robert had to keep the smile on his face, but he couldn't help but feel that Onaran had miscalculated with his choices.  
  
"I'm certain there has been no harm."  
  
For a moment Robert considered asking to be introduced to her entourage, if only to learn more about the Turian. But they already had unnecessary tension. Making it worse didn't seem like the right thing to do. _I'll have to see if we have his image on record_.  
  
"If you'll follow me, Madame Matriarch, I'll escort you to Conference Room 1." With her nod of assent, he took a step back before turning and leading them into his ship.  
  
  
  
  
Zack escorted Tali to the conference room on the _Koenig_. General Victus was already waiting with Nisia and Barnes. Shepard's voice was coming over the speaker. " _The crew's being more than a little uncooperative. And they were actively sabotaging the ship before we secured it._ "  
  
"In what way?" asked Victus.  
  
" _It looks like they were trying to destroy specific parts with explosives. And Ensign Hajar's already written off the computer cores from how thoroughly they wiped them_."  
  
" _Although the wipe itself can be seen as evidence_ ," Hajar added through her own omnitool's communications function. " _The way that they wiped their computers was more than a simple deletion. There are a number of ways to thoroughly annihilate the data in a system, some being more thorough than others, some being quicker. I've seen this wiping method before_."  
  
"Where, Ensign?" Zack asked.  
  
" _When I was on the_ Tanzania _back in Starfleet. It's a method I found in use when we were trying to recover computer data from a ship abandoned by Breen privateers."_  
  
"Ferengi, now Breen." Zack took his seat. "Any luck on identifying the shields?"  
  
" _Not S5T3, I can say that much. The generator layout is all wrong. I would almost say they're Salehi Defense Corps Mark IIIs..._ "  
  
Zack blinked. He recognized that company name. "As in D3R1?"  
  
" _Yes. These generators are a lot like the models found on numerous ships built in the Colonial Confederation. But the emitter wavelength variance is off._ "  
  
Barnes let out a sigh. "Hajar, was the variance setting closer to ten cycles per minute?"  
  
" _Eleven point one_."  
  
That caused Barnes to wince. "Damn. Arcturan knockoffs."  
  
"Tom?" Zack looked at him. "What are you getting at?"  
  
"Back before they launched the _Aurora_ , I spent some time doing the rounds of various outposts and stuff. I visited Abdis D3R1. And l hate that damned planet to this day." The aside was clearly not appreciated by the others, but Zack thankfully didn't feel it necessary to say anything as Barnes kept going. "Well, we had a ship come in with major power failures that nearly caused it to crash. It turns out the ship was from the Arcturus Free States or Freeholds or whatever they call themselves and that the captain bought knockoffs of Salehi Corps' shield generators from a source there. Of course, said knockoffs were pieces of crap and caused the failures when the captain's first mate tried some routine shield tests. Well, the head engineer I was working with knew this stuff already, and he told me how to look for these kinds of knockoffs. The uniform thing you find is an abnormally low variance rate. It allows the shields to look more powerful, but it makes them way more vulnerable to frequency matching firing algorithms."  
  
"This could explain their power failures during the fight," Zack said.  
  
"How could your defense technology have wound up in Batarian hands?" asked Nisia.  
  
"That's the problem. It's not really ours." Barnes shook his head. "I mean, the Arcturans are… they're like Space Somalia, I guess? Or maybe some other… I dunno, anarchy-central, that's what the place is."  
  
"The Arcturan Freeholds, or Free States, are basically a collection of settlements with almost no civil government and with residents uniformly devoted to keeping it that way," Zack added to clarify what Barnes had said. "The only reason the place isn't a pirate haven is that the pirates are too organized and controlling for their liking, and because the Arcturans know that they'd get stomped by their neighbors if they let the pirates in. Everybody has a gun and you don't live long if you don't know how to use it."  
  
"It's like the Wild West, but with spaceships," Barnes said.  
  
"Wild… West?" asked Tali, in a moment of curiosity that drew the attention of the assembled.  
  
"It's the kind of world you would find in the Terminus Systems," Zack said, improving on Barnes' failed analogy. "And it's no surprise that Arcturan-built gear could wind up anywhere, even here." He looked to Tali. "Anyway, now that we have an idea on some of the new capabilities the Batarians are trying to field, our friend here has some information to share."  
  
Tali seemed uncomfortable and for a moment Zack wondered if he had been wrong to put her "on the spot" like that. But after that clear moment of discomfort Tali brought her arm up and her omnitool activated. "My friend Kon'Fanim and I were on a scouting mission for the Migrant Fleet. We're leaving on Pilgrimage soon and this is part of our training on being away from home." Above the omnitool a series of figures and numbers flashed by. "We were just supposed to scout some empty systems in this cluster and report back. But when we were scouting this star system…"  
  
Zack looked at the one Tali had indicated. "The Hylakos System," he said.  
  
"...we found signs of mining that weren't in the latest reports on the extranet." Tali lowered her hand. "We landed and took readings of the mined sites. It was confusing. Whoever did it took a lot of effort, but there was no sign of element zero. And I can't think of anything that would be valuable enough for the effort."  
  
"What did you find?" Victus asked.  
  
"Basic minerals. Cadmium, lithium, and something like mercury. A liquid-state mineral, I mean, but it doesn't match mercury's atomic composition."  
  
"Did you get a scan of it?" Barnes leaned forward. "I might be able to identify it."  
  
"I can say I've never heard of this metal." Tali's large fingers tapped her omnitool and brought up a model of the substance. Barnes accepted it and displayed it on his omnitool. When his eyes widened, Tali asked, "What? You know this?"  
  
"Yeah. Oh frakking yeah."  
  
"What is it?", Zack asked his friend.  
  
Barnes looked at him. "It's latinum," he said. "Almost pure latinum."  
  
"Wait, what?" Zack sat up.  
  
"What is this 'latinum'?" asked Nisia.  
  
"It's a liquid metal that you can find in certain asteroids and moons," Barnes answered. "In societies with matter-replication technology, it can end up being used as currency because its atomic structure is too complex and delicate for a replicator to assemble. I mean, it's like gold and silver in older economies, or eezo in yours. You simply replicate some non-reactive mineral like gold to act as a binding agent and poof, you've got usable currency. And it sometimes gets added to other alloys for stuff. Latinum can be a protective material when alloyed with steel and some other minerals, mostly smaller things like household objects and appliances. You won't find it in starships or anything like that."  
  
"And if the Batarians are finding latinum out here, then that gives them a ready cash source to go buying things on the Multiversal black market." Zack looked to Tali. "I'm guessing that's when the Batarians attacked you?"  
  
"They came out of FTL almost on top of us. If Kon wasn't such a great pilot, they would have killed us with the first shot. I started transmitting the distress signal right away."  
  
"And so here we are." Zack nodded to Tali. "Thank you, Miss… is it nar _Rayya_ or Zorah?"  
  
"Zorah is my family name. I am from the ship _Rayya_."  
  
"Well, Miss Zorah, thank you again. I'm afraid we don't have any space for quartering, but Doctor Opani can put you in a bed in the infirmary, and our mess hall replicators are available for you if you need something to eat or drink."  
  
"Since you have Turians on board, your food is dextro-compatible?"  
  
"It is." Zack nod.  
  
"Then thank you, Commander. If you need anything, let me know. As long as I'm on your ship, it's only right that I help keep the ship working."  
  
Zack nodded. Barnes smirked and nodded as well. "If I need the extra hands for something, I'll keep it in mind, kid."  
  
After she left Zack looked to the others. "General, I'm going to issue a report on this to Alliance Defense Command."  
  
"I'll inform Palaven and the Citadel. Although I expect there will be few, if any, consequences to the Hegemony. The Batarians always insist that pirates and slavers are 'criminal elements', and the Citadel has never gotten convincing, undeniable proof to the contrary."  
  
"Right. I know how that goes." Zack stood. "Hopefully Commander Shepard and the others can find something over there. I'd like to know where these ships are based."  
  
"I think we would all like to know that, Commander," Victus answered. He stood as well. "Please keep me informed."  
  
"Of course, sir."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Koenig comes to the assistance of alien wanderers during training exercises with the Citadel races; Robert and his crew attempt to negotiate peace with the Batarian Hegemony.

For Kane and the others, moving around the wrecked Batarian ship was a struggle in more than one way. Some corridors were blocked by debris or remnant fires. The lifts couldn't work half of the time, even with the backup power sources brought from the _Koenig_ 's relatively-meager stores. And the Batarians themselves were not helpful captives.  
  
After an inspection of the team looking through what was left of the engineering area, Kane walked back toward the bow of the raiding ship. Wediks and Shepard were still there with two other officers: Ensign Hajar and one of Shepard's people, a dark-haired officer she'd introduced as Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko. "Have you found anything yet?" Kane asked.  
  
Hajar spoke first from a computer panel. "I'm still trying this data reconstruction program, but I don't hold out much hope. Their data wiping program is thorough to the point of physical data removal."  
  
"I am hoping to find something in the access memory buffers," said Wediks from another station, which he was working on with his omnitool.  
  
"And what about the ship itself?"  
  
Hajar shook her head. "The ship's a total loss. That power overload and the resulting secondary explosions caused too much structural damage. We would need a cruiser-scale structural integrity field to risk any sort of sublight or FTL velocities."  
  
"But I might be able to do something with the communications gear." Alenko was operating one of the consoles. Like Shepard he was in Systems Alliance standard issue battle armor, but without the white N7 designation present. "It looks like it was also damaged in the fight. But that's worked in our favor."  
  
"Oh?" Shepard asked. "In what way?"  
  
"Because the power overload fried out the connection between the comm system memory and the main computers. When they ran their data wipe process, it didn't carry into the memory."  
  
Shepard walked over to him. "But wouldn't that mean that the overload also fried the system memory?"  
  
"Only partly." Shepard and Kane could see Alenko visibly sorting through data sectors, some functional and some corrupted. "The wiring burned out first. So there's still some data left in the system memory I can use. Maybe some comm activity…" One of the icons on his omnitool display flashed green. "There. I've got something. It looks like an audio transmission that hadn't been cleared from memory yet."  
  
"Can you put it on?" Kane asked.  
  
"Let me see…" Alenko started pressing more keys. "Here."  
  
The guttural tones of Batarian speech started crackling over the bridge speakers. After a moment the auto-translators kicked in. "... _targets in this side of the cluster. Allow me to move closer to the Humans' trade lanes! The prizes…_ "  
  
" _The prizes do not merit the risk. At this juncture we cannot afford to alienate our trading partners by drawing attention, and we certainly cannot jeopardize the upcoming talks with the Multiversal Alliance. The Minister will have our eyes ripped from our heads if we ruin his plan._ "  
  
" _But my men are restless. We haven't claimed prizes for over a month._ "  
  
" _They will have to wait. If things go as planned, many prizes will come to them, and their portions from our contributions to the slave markets back home will be great enough that we'll all move up in caste_. _Your only worry at this point is to protect the latinum deposits. Let us worry ab-_ …" The voice dissolved into static-laden gibberish for a moment before the file ceased running.  
  
"Well, that certainly sounds ominous," Shepard said. She looked toward Kane. "A plan involving the negotiations with your Alliance."  
  
"I'll report it to the _Koenig_ immediately." Kane was frowning. "But I have another problem."  
  
"How are they going to react when this ship doesn't check in?" Shepard nodded. "From the way it sounds, they might assume the captain decided to take matters into his own hands and move closer to the major trading lanes in this cluster. That won't make them happy."  
  
Kane nodded. "Which means they'll be sending searchers when check-ins don't come on time." Kane pressed a hand to the side of his combat helmet. "Kane to _Koenig_. We've got some updates for you, and some bad news."  
  
  
  
  
With the meetings over Barnes headed back to his preserve in Engineering. With Hajar over on the Batarian ship his second, Lieutenant (j.g.) Ana Poniatowski, was working her off-shift time. The slight Polish girl with honey-colored hair didn't show any fatigue while covering the scant battle damage they had incurred. "The shield generators passed the post-battle inspection," she said while Barnes was tapping keys at the Engineering Master Systems Display. "I am a little worried about what looks like some stress damage on the port impulsor's power conduit."  
  
Barnes brought up the relevant section. "Go ahead and assign a DC team to look it. And send Lang and Zeroll to check up on the starboard aft torpedo launcher. Our last diagnostic put up some warning flags I want them to look into."  
  
"Yes sir." As Poniatowski said that she looked up with some confusion. "What is…?"  
  
Barnes turned his head to follow what Poniatowski was looking at. The starboard-side entrance to main engineering had opened, and the Quarian girl they'd picked up was already stepping through the door. Barnes let out a little groan of frustration before making his way over to where she was leaning over to inspect one of the control surfaces. "Hey!" he called out. "You, over there, Tali-whatever it was!"  
  
The Quarian turned to face him. "Tali'Zorah," she corrected.  
  
"Yes, whatever." Barnes stepped up to just outside of her personal space. "This is Main Engineering. I can't just have you wandering around here on a grand tour, I've got a ship to run."  
  
"I know, and I'm here to help," she said. "I'm an engineer too."  
  
"Really? A fully trained engineer?" Barnes couldn't quite keep the skepticism out of his voice. "And in what fields? With what systems? Do you know how to keep a naqia reactor operating? Have you trained with plasma coolant lines? Do you know how warp drives work?"  
  
"I've seen the diagrams on the extranet…"  
  
"Yeah, I figured." Barnes shook his head. "I get it, I mean, you're fascinated with engineering, always reading stuff online about reactors and engines and vehicles. But I don't care how many net pages you've studied, kid, you don't have the education or training to work in here, and I've got enough work to do without you getting in the way."  
  
"I _have_ training, you ignorant…" Even with her face obscured by the glassy plate covering it, it wasn't hard for Barnes to imagine a generic humanoid face twisted with irritation and frustration. "My people _live_ with this every day! I've learned how to run starships since I was a child!"  
  
"There's a difference between patching up a bulkhead and fixing a plasma feed or a power conduit, kid." Barnes got closer. "Now, I'm busy, so I need you to go. Get up to the mess hall, get yourself some grub, go check up on your buddy, whatever. Just stay out of trouble."  
  
Tali's body tensed with frustration. She let it out with a sharp, " _Bosh'tet!_ " and a string of Quarian curses as she turned and left Main Engineering.  
  
Barnes made sure she was out the door before walking away, causing the door to close as he did. Poniatowski looked up from where she had finished delegating the engineering and damage-control teams. "Maybe you were a little harsh?" she asked.  
  
"Maybe," he admitted. "But you've got to be that way with kids who think they know more than they actually do. Give them an inch and they take the mile."  
  
"'Inch'? 'Mile'?"  
  
"Centimeter and kilometer." Barnes shook his head. "Anyway, let's get back to it."  
  
  
  
  
Victus entered Zack's office with measured steps. The Turian general nodded to him. "Commander, you had something to report?"  
  
"Yes sir." Zack motioned to a chair, one he'd replicated to be easier for Turians to sit in. "General, have you heard anything from your superiors?"  
  
"The Citadel Council hasn't responded to my report. Palaven Command has. But my instructions are merely to be ready to support whatever course of action is decided upon by the other authorities. The Hierarchy has few interests in this region of space. Our presence is at the request of the Council."  
  
"So you've got no new directives?"  
  
"I do not. And I haven't received any news on a ship being sent out to take custody of the pirate vessel."  
  
Zack nodded. "I haven't heard anything either," he said. "I even relayed Kane's last report. I sent it straight to Admiral Maran. But all I get back from Defense Command is to support whatever decisions the Citadel and the M4P2 governments decide upon."  
  
"It would appear our superiors are uncertain of how they want to handle this information." Victus turned thoughtful. "It makes sense. Everyone wants the negotiations with the Hegemony to succeed. Your Alliance, the Citadel, Palaven… nobody will want to risk ruining that with an incursion into Batarian-held territory."  
  
"But we're still quite a distance from the recognized Batarian claims in the Verge," Zack noted. "Even if these pirates are working for the Hegemony, or Hegemony officials, I can't see how dealing with them will undermine the talks."  
  
"The Batarians are sensitive and prickly, Commander. It's easy to offend them."  
  
"They're also slavers, and that offends _me_ ," Zack said. He was frowning. "So, General, what should we do? Like I said, I'm following your lead on this. We can't just sit here. Sooner or later, someone in this gang is going to be looking for their ship. They'll have to, if that signal was accurate."  
  
"I'm in agreement."  
  
"We don't have room for prisoners," Zack continued. "We can't kill them…"  
  
"Technically, Commander, we can," Victus said in correction. "As pirates and raiders, they are subject to execution in the field if caught in the act."  
  
Zack's jaw clenched at that. His head lowered for a moment. The thought within him was if he could do such a thing. Just… kill people out of hand. Not in a combat situation, not when it was killing an enemy before they could kill him, or those he was responsible for. It would be the cold-blooded execution of helpless prisoners.  
  
A dark thought quickly echoed in his head, with his voice. _As if they'd think twice about killing you after you surrendered. They'd only spare you to put a chip in your head and sell you as a slave_.  
  
"I'm not saying we should," Victus said. "But we may have to. If the Batarians realize their ship was taken by our forces, they'll move to avoid further compromising their operations."  
  
"And they may also rush whatever plan they've got involving the talks." A sick feeling came to Zack. "Could they be planning an attack on the _Aurora_? If they've refitted ships with this technology…"  
  
"I think that might be too brazen an act. The Batarians know how everyone else would see it." Victus shook his head. "Although if you can send a warning to them, go ahead."  
  
"I've already sent them a message with the recovered audio file. I also sent it to Maran's with Kane's report." Zack put his hands together on the desk. "But that still leaves us with a big problem. That ship. We either have to destroy it and make it look like an accident…"  
  
"...or we have to hide it."  
  
"Hide it," repeated Zack. After another moment of thinking on it, he reached to a button on his desk. "Carrey to bridge."  
  
" _Bridge here, sir_ ," answered an Alakin voice. Ensign Driik had clearly assumed a bridge watch to give Apley some time off-shift.  
  
"Call all senior officers to the conference room, we're having an emergency meeting in fifteen minutes' time."  
  
" _I'll inform them right away, sir_."  
  
  
  
  
Experience on the _Koenig_ so far had been frustrating for Tali. Every instinct she had demanded that she be doing something for the ship, something to ensure it was going to keep working. It was the impulse of a lifetime that she could not easily ignore. Laying on her assigned bed in the infirmary, Tali let Barnes' words stew in her mind. _That smug_ bosh'tet. _How can people with so much technology be so small-minded?!_  
  
True, she knew little about the actual mechanics of warp drive flight, and the electro-plasma system used for the primary power conduits was not the kind of thing you'd find on a Quarian ship, but the underlying mechanics of the latter were still easy to understand, and for the former… well, she could grasp enough, couldn't she? And she wasn't even asking to work on the warp FTL drive either! Just something to _do_ , something she could do and was trained to do.  
  
"Well, I can see someone is frustrated," an accented voice remarked. Tali turned and faced Doctor Opani through the purple hue of her face plate. Internal systems adjusted to let Tali see the actual color of what was around her. The dark teal complexion, the dark purple hair, the purple spots… the Dorei were unlike any other species she'd seen before, on the extranet or in person. "How are you?"  
  
"I am better than Kon." Tali looked at her friend, still unconscious on the nearby biobed. "Has he gotten an infection?"  
  
"I believe so, going by his body's internal reactions. And I've consulted with Citadel medical databases on Quarian treatment . I think my regimen of medicines and anti-bacterials will control the infection and keep it from spreading." Opani settled onto the bed opposite from Tali. "I am fascinated by your species," she admitted. "But I'm also quite sad for you."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Your immune systems forcing you to live your lives in those suits. The way this galaxy treats your people." Opani shook her head. "It saddens me that your people cannot enjoy the simple pleasures I have known my whole life."  
  
"Maybe if we could find a homeworld…" Tali lifted her legs up onto the bed and rested her elbows near her knees. "We do what we have to in order to survive."  
  
"I can understand that." Opani curled her legs under her. "So, what is bothering you? It's not hard to see you are frustrated."  
  
"It's that fire-headed jerk you have running Engineering," Tali spat. "I went to him to help and he he threw me out. He treated me like I knew nothing about how to keep a ship running, like I was some inexperienced child."  
  
"Maybe he's worried that you don't know enough about our technology?" Opani suggested. "I am certainly a physician, and I have surgical training, but I would never fail to step aside in a matter that demanded a medical specialist. That would be irresponsible of me."  
  
"I am willing to learn."  
  
"Learning takes time."  
  
"I know! But…" Tali sighed. "You must understand, Doctor, that I grew up on a ship. Quarian children are taught from the time we are young to do what we can to help keep our ships working. We get taught how to fix bulkheads, replace air filters, rewire power systems and equipment, anything that might be necessary for us to know in a ship-wide emergency." Opani was now studying Tali's face plate intently, as if to discern the expression hidden beneath the plate. "Every instinct I have is urging me to help maintain this ship."  
  
Opani contented herself with a single nod of her head. Some Humans might have responded by setting their hand on Tali's arm or shoulder. Opani had been around Humans enough to contemplate it, although most Dorei cultures had more intricate rules about physical contact between people in such contexts due to their contact-based psionics.  
  
"I'm not stupid," Tali protested. "I know there are systems on this ship I could not work on without learning more about them. But I'm a trained engineer and there are plenty of things I could easily help with, if only that arrogant engineer would let me."  
  
"You're referring to Lieutenant Barnes?"  
  
"The one with the red hair? Yes."  
  
Opani nodded. "To be honest, I'm not sure if even Lieutenant Derbely, our usual Chief Engineer, would have accepted your help. She is just as protective of the ship as Barnes is."  
  
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Tali demanded. "Everything I've been raised to do is telling me to find work on this ship while I am here. I'm not supposed to sit around like a small child!"  
  
"I understand it is frustrating, Tali'Zorah. Perhaps if you took the time to read more about our tech…"  
  
The tone of the ship's intercom stopped her, with an Alakin voice speaking afterward. " _All senior officers please report to the conference room. Commander Carrey has called an emergency meeting. I repeat_ …"  
  
"I must go," Opani said, sliding off the bed to her feet. Sensing Tali was not appeased by the reading suggestion, she added, "I will speak with Lieutenant Barnes about this. Maybe he has work that he feels is safe for you, work you can do that will make him trust you."  
  
"That is all you can do, I suppose," Tali lamented. "Thank you, Doctor Opani."  
  
Opani nodded once before walking to the infirmary exit.  
  
  
  
  
The senior officers of the _Koenig_ , General Victis, Captain Vidinos, and Nisia gathered on time in the small conference room on the ship, with Kane, Shepard, and the others visible on a holo-monitor from the battered bridge of the Batarian ship. " _There's absolutely no chance we can tow this ship_ ," Hajar said. " _There's too much structural damage_."  
  
Barnes shook his head. "Even if there wasn't, I'd be against it. Our tractor beam can tow a mass that size for maybe an hour or two before we burn it out."  
  
"Wouldn't that be enough?" Sherlily leaned forward. "We can tow it into interstellar space, maybe drop a specialized beacon so we know where we left it? Another ship can pick it up once someone decides what to do."  
  
"Maybe." Magda looked from her colleague to Zack. "But let's be clear here. We have no idea what the capabilities of these Batarian ships are. They've gotten shield technology, weapon technology, and computer programming from other universes. The sensors on this ship looked standard, but that doesn't mean the sensors used on other ships in this group are. And most M4P2 sensor suites could possibly track the remnant radiation of a warp trail, especially one influenced by an operating tractor beam."  
  
"In other words, we could give away that the ship was taken," Zack said.  
  
"Exactly. At this point I don't think we can take anything for granted about these people. Unless we can find out for certain what they've been getting off the black market..."  
  
" _We've tried everything with the prisoners, but nobody's talking_." Commander Shepard crossed her arms. " _And they act more like military personnel than pirates._ "  
  
"That's not a surprise, Commander Shepard. Many of these Batarian criminal organizations use Batarians trained by their government for military service," Victus said, looking at the screen.  
  
" _That's convenient_ ," Kane remarked. " _The Hegemony must have a lot of veterans they can talk into becoming pirates on their behalf._ "  
  
Victus answered, "It's long been suspected, but we have no proof, and we're not likely to get any."  
  
" _We could destroy the vessel_ ," Lediks proposed. " _The anti-matter reactor core they installed has numerous flaws we could exploit_."  
  
"And what would we do with the crew?" Apley asked.  
  
" _We have no room for them on your ship, Lieutenant. The obvious solution is to leave them on their vessel._ "  
  
"You mean blow up helpless prisoners." Opani glared daggers at the Salarian on the screen. "That is monstrous!"  
  
"No, Doctor, it's expedient," Vidinos retorted. "And advisable. They're pirates and slavers and by interstellar law they can be executed in the field for those crimes, if necessary."  
  
Opani opened her mouth to continue her argument, but she stopped. A strained, haunted look came to her face.  
  
"Maybe there's an alternative," Sherlily said. "What if we tractored them deeper into the asteroid field?"  
  
Magda shook her head. "Without knowing how sophisticated their sensor systems are, I can't tell you if they'd pick up trace gravitons or not. Or traces of our impulsor drives. Even if they couldn't find the other ship, they'd know it was tractored away. Unless we can cloak and hope the cloaking field absorbs the trace radiation…"  
  
"Cloaking and running the tractor beam? Nope, not happening," Barnes said, shaking his head. "The gravitons will mess up the cloaking field. I might be able to buffer the drive for a bit, keep it from leaving as strong a trail, but that's all I can promise you."  
  
" _I don't like killing prisoners who surrendered_ ," Shepard said. " _We're better than that_."  
  
"Isn't Human history full of occasions when Humans did that to each other?" The question was from Vidinos. "And I know what your people did on Torfan, Shepard. Don't try to climb on any moral high ground, because Humans don't have it."  
  
" _I wasn't on Torfan_ ," Shepard retorted. " _And it doesn't change the fact that killing prisoners goes against interstellar law_."  
  
" _You are in error, Commander._ " Lediks was speaking again. " _The interstellar law under Council rules clearly stipulates that pirates and slavers are subject to summary field execution._ "  
  
" _Hostis universalis_ ," Zack murmured. When a few people looked his way, he clarified, "It's a legal term I heard during a command officer conference a couple of months ago. We were being reminded that under existing interstellar law in most universes, pirates and slavers can be considered _hostis universalis_ , 'enemies of all', and we have no legal obligations toward them. We can leave them to die in their broken ships if taking them would risk our crews." Zack frowned. "A few captains and legal experts even made the argument that we could just shoot them, if we wanted."  
  
"Then it's clear all of our governments are in agreement. Let's stop wasting time."  
  
"Before we render a decision, I want to know more about what we have recovered." Victus looked to the screen.  
  
This time it was Kaiden Alenko who spoke. " _Ensign Hajar helped me recover more data from their comm systems' access memory. I think that I might be able to provide coordinate data on where some of the transmissions were being directed._ "  
  
"Then we could possibly find one of their bases," Zack said, pleased. "Maybe even their main base."  
  
" _That was my thought as well. We're still running data reconstruction over here_ …"  
  
Alenko was interrupted by a tone over the _Koenig_ 's intercom. " _Bridge to Conference Room_ ," chirped Ensign Driik.  
  
Zack tapped a button on the plain gray plastic table they were seated at. "Carrey here."  
  
" _Sir, we have a ship approaching on long range sensors. It's using a warp drive field, approximately Warp 5 in velocity. Power signature and readings are not in the database. But it could be a Batarian ship. The mass readings, if accurate, indicate the vessel is of cruiser capability._ "  
  
That caused Zack to frown. "Damn," he said. "What's their ETA?"  
  
" _Fifty minutes._ "  
  
"Keep me informed and have the transporter station prepare to evacuate the ship of our personnel. Carrey out." He looked to the others. "We're out of time."  
  
" _I'll have our people prep for immediate extraction_ ," Shepard said. " _Ensign Hajar is going to standby to enact any plans you have in their engineering sections. Signing off_."  
  
The team on the enemy vessel disappeared from the screen. The conference room went quiet. "It appears we have a decision to make, Commander," Victus said.  
  
Zack nodded. They did have a decision to make. And it was the kind of decision he never wanted to face.  
  
  
  
  
_Personal Log: Commander Zachary Carrey, 10 August 2642. I have twenty minutes left. Twenty minutes in which I have to decide whether to condemn the prisoners we've taken to prevent their compatriots from knowing we're onto them.  
  
I never expected to make these kinds of decisions. I never wanted to. I wish Victus would order us to blow up the Batarian ship and be done with it. But he's leaving me that decision. I think he's testing me to see what I'll do. If I'll do the "right thing" or not.  
  
What is the right thing? I mean, these people aren't innocent. They're pirates. Worse, they're slavers. They would put control implants into every member of my crew if they got the chance. I shouldn't give a damn if they die. I'm not sure I actually do, in fact.  
  
But… killing them for expediency, blowing them up after they surrendered… I don't know. It's one thing if their ship blew up while we were fighting. But this is an execution. And it feels…  
  
...it feels like murder_.  
  
The sound of his door chime sounded as Zack finished his log. "Enter."  
  
He had hoped it would be General Victus, coming to give him an order. But instead it was Doctor Opani who stepped in. "Commander."  
  
"Doctor." He nodded. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"Our Quarian guest, Tali'Zorah. She deeply wants to help the engineering crew. It's… cultural."  
  
Zack nodded. "Well, she can go to Tom, I'm sure he'll…"  
  
"He turned her down," Opani said. The expression on her face showed how unsettled she was at the moment. "And since you are friends I am certain you knew how he would respond."  
  
"Yeah. The truth is, Doctor, this isn't the best time." He frowned. "And you know it."  
  
Opani remained silent for a moment. Her blue eyes lowered for a moment before she focused on him.  
  
"You seemed to give up on arguing against the 'kill them all' option," Zack noted. "I expected you to fight longer."  
  
"Maybe I should have. But…" Opani shook her head. "I don't want to be merciful to the likes of those slavers. They've caused too much suffering."  
  
"Including to you."  
  
Opani's eyes widened.  
  
"I'm sorry," Zack said. "But your file mentions it. I… I can't imagine what it was like."  
  
"It was Hell," Opani rasped. Old pain showed on her face, the pain and horror of what had once been done to her. "I was trapped in pure Hell."  
  
"And yet you are against blowing these people up," Zack said.  
  
"I don't know… I am, but I know what they do, and so I'm…" Opani's eyes teared up. She flopped into one of the open chairs across from his desk. "I am a healer. I am supposed to support continued life, not death. But what they do to people, slavery, it is a death, a living death… oh Deity, what am I supposed to do?"  
  
"Nothing," Zack murmured, even as he thought on what she said. "It's my decision. I have to make it." He looked at his reflection. The thought of what was going on weighed him down. He looked to Opani again.  
  
He had no gifts. He couldn't read minds, sense feelings, or whatever it was that Meridina was teaching Lucy and Robert. But he didn't need those to understand what her experiences had done to Opani. "A living death," he murmured.  
  
For a moment he envisaged not doing anything. He saw the Batarian raiders find that they'd been discovered. They would run, reorganize, abandon one base to take up another… and then they would eventually attack, with who knew what kind of weapons and technology. Some people would die, and others would be dragged off to Batarian space to be turned into slaves. To go through what Opani had suffered, or what he'd seen on the faces of slaves from C1P2 back in the day.  
  
He couldn't know that would be the result. But the thought of it, the risk, was too much.  
  
It didn't make it any easier for Zack when he reached for his omnitool. "Carrey to Hajar."  
  
After a moment Hajar responded. " _Hajar here. Sir…_ "  
  
"Get it done. Now. We're almost out of time."  
  
There was a short pause. " _Say again, sir?_ "  
  
Zack knew what she meant. Hajar didn't like the decision. She was undoubtedly hoping he would specify something else. "Set off their reactor, Hajar. Blow up the ship. That is a direct order."  
  
For several seconds there was a pause. A very subdued " _Yes sir_ " replied. " _Hajar out_."  
  
Zack looked at Opani. She was returning the look. "Do you think you did the right thing?" Opani asked.  
  
His silence was answer enough.  
  
  
  
  
Zack stepped onto the bridge a few minutes later. Apley moved to the helm to let Zack take his chair. Victus was already present and standing with Lediks, Vidinos, and Shepard near the chair. "Commander." Victus nodded. "I see you made the decision. Thank you for not making me force the issue."  
  
"You're welcome, General." Zack's reply was flat, emotionless. He tapped the key on his command chair to activate communications. "Carrey to Hajar. Are you done?"  
  
" _I just finished. One flaw in their system is in the deuterium injectors for their reaction chamber, they can't handle an increased reaction rate that the system is safely rated for. They'll blow in a couple of minutes, at best, which will lead to a build-up of anti-deuterium in the reaction chamber until containment is overloaded. It should cause the near-vaporization of much of the ship and it should look like a mechanical accident, engineer negligence._ "  
  
"Confirm that everything's going according to plan, then?"  
  
" _So far so good. Reaction material levels are increasing. I'm already seeing signs of the deuterium injectors overstraining._ " For a moment there was nothing. " _Okay, injector 1 just failed. And the only reason I know that is from my own scans… the Batarians' safety systems are completely inadequate and I need beamout now. Now now!_ "  
  
"Magda!"  
  
"Transporter Station has her, Commander. She's beaming over now," Magda confirmed.  
  
Zack sighed with relief.  
  
The holo-viewer lit up a moment later as the Batarian ship was destroyed from within, the victim of the out-of-control antimatter reaction caused by their sabotage.  
  
"Hajar cut that too close," Shepard muttered.  
  
"She underestimated how badly the Batarian ship's systems would react," Lediks added. "This should help support the ruse."  
  
"I've already cloaked the ship," Magda said. "The Batarian ship is still nearly ten minutes out at their current warp speed. I can't tell you if they detected the explosion."  
  
"Will it work?" Zack asked. "What we did?"  
  
"I'm scanning what's left now. I don't think there's any debris big enough to confirm they were hit by weapons. Maybe they'll identify weapons hits if they recover the right piece of debris and subject it to close analysis in a metallurgical lab."  
  
"Not likely," Sherlily remarked.  
  
"No." Magda turned in her seat to face Zack. "I recommend that the helm keep us a safe distance away to make sure that stray micro-asteroids don't give away our presence."  
  
"Ap?"  
  
"Already moving."  
  
Zack said nothing more while his ship changed position. He was too busy with his own thoughts, his feelings, and the awful spectacle he had just witnessed. _I just killed prisoners. I left those men to die_.  
  
"Commander."  
  
Zack turned his head and looked to General Victus. "General?"  
  
"I know it asked a lot of you. But you did what you had to do. Our situation demanded it."  
  
_I did what I had to do_ flashed through Zack's mind. It was a nice phrase, he guessed. If only it hadn't felt so wrong. He still wasn't sure it was necessary. And it felt so callous, so plain… who knew how people could apply the phrase to something terrible and wrong.  
  
"It was duty, Commander," Victus continued. "I appreciate the cost for you."  
  
"Thank you," was all Zack could say.  
  
Silence filled the bridge until the appointed time came. The ship that dropped out of warp was at least four hundred meters long and twenty meters from top to bottom. The rear of the ship looked like it had been completely rebuilt, which explained the two warp nacelles in the rear section. The pylons lifted the nacelles just above the dorsal hull of the gray and dark red ship.  
  
"The sensor traces I'm getting are definitely not from M4P2 systems," Magda said. "And this one is also using impulsor drives. For the weapon emplacements I'd say they're also of Ferengi origin."  
  
Zack watched the ship remain near the cloud of fine debris left by the destruction of the first ship. "Anything else?"  
  
"They're still just scanning." Magda kept examining her instruments. "They're being thorough. But I'm not seeing anything that would give up what's happened. They're not taking samples. Wait… now I'm detecting a transmission."  
  
"Intercept it," Zack ordered immediately.  
  
"I'm doing so now. Apley, I'll transmit coordinates to you, move us to that spot so I can get a better fix."  
  
"Maneuvering us now."  
  
Apley's hands moved over the controls with precision. _Koenig_ followed her unsuspecting quarry with the care of a hunting cat slipping through high grass. Asteroids big enough to be noticed if deflected off their invisible hull were avoided as much as possible and their speed tightly regulated.  
  
Magda's focus was entirely on her screens. Colored light from her displays danced over her brown eyes as she used the _Koenig_ 's sensors and communications systems to pluck the offending signal from subspace.  
  
The bridge remained completely quiet while these two did their work. Zack noted it and approved, and he could see that Victus did too.  
  
Magda's attention shifted to another of her screens. "I'm getting an energy spike. They're engaging their warp drive."  
  
With a flash of light the Batarian ship elongated and vanished.  
  
"Did you get enough?" he asked Magda.  
  
"I'm not sure. I can give you a general vicinity. But it's not in the direction they're going."  
  
Lediks was the first to respond. "They may be resuming a prior patrol."  
  
"I've still got them on sensors, Warp 5.5." Apley looked back. "Sir, I can catch up to them."  
  
"No. No, I think tracking the signal is the better bet." Zack looked to Magda. "Anything?"  
  
"I can give you a general vicinity," she said. "I'm already running calculations to narrow the field."  
  
"Relay heading and coordinates to the helm. Apley, take us out when you're ready."  
  
"Aye sir" came from two sources. Moments later, the _Koenig_ went to warp.  
  
  
  
  
There was no change in the atmosphere of the _Aurora_ conference room. Robert couldn't quite believe it, either, given how the only thing that could be agreed upon was that neither side had given up anything of substance.  
  
"The Batarian claim to the space around the Ren'kharam Relay is two centuries old," am Rimhar insisted. "Your new colonies have directly infringed upon that space."  
  
"There were no indications of any prior claim when those colonies were established," Onaran replied. "Is it not general practice in M4P2 to place beacons outlining such claims?"  
  
"The Ren'kharam Relay only connects to Batarian relays. Our claim was self-evident. You cannot hold it against us that we did not anticipate the use of non-relay travel capable of reaching the region."  
  
"Nor can you blame our people for settling worlds where no prior use was evident." Onaran was remaining reserved, but it was clear he was tired of the fruitless back-and-forth with the obstructive Batarian diplomat. "We acted in good faith."  
  
"If someone plants a house on your land and insists he saw no sign of it being owned, would you simply hand it over?" asked am Rimhar.  
  
"If I could be sure of his good faith, I would work with him on a solution beyond base demands…"  
  
Onaran never finished, as he was interrupted by Benezia. "The hour has grown late." She looked over the two. "It is best if we retired for the day. The session can resume tomorrow. We shall reconvene in fourteen hours."  
  
"Agreed, Matriarch," Onaran said.  
  
"Agreed." Minister am Rimhar stood up. "We shall return to our vessel."  
  
"Of course, Minister." Robert didn't bring up the security escort that was ready to follow him. He simply nodded and watched the Batarians walk out. Once they were gone he turned to Onaran. The Dorei man had clearly been drained of any energy or enthusiasm by the long, fruitless session. "This doesn't seem like any negotiation."  
  
"It is a tactic, I expect. They have started with maximum conditions to posture." Onaran shook his head. "It is frustrating. But I have faith it will improve."  
  
Robert looked back to the door that am Rimhar had left from. He didn't have the same feeling. For all of his bluster, am Rimhar didn't feel like he was posturing. Robert got the sense that he was planning more than was evident. "I'm not sure," he said to Onaran. "I think am Rimhar has another agenda."  
  
"Is that with the benefit of your Gift, Captain?"  
  
Had another person, especially a Human, asked that, Robert would have been inclined to consider it as sarcasm. But Onaran wasn't being sarcastic. The Dorei included people like him, people who could exercise the "life force" powers that Meridina had taught him in, and accepted the uses of said abilities.  
  
So he nodded. "I'm sure of it. There's something going on here that isn't obvious."  
  
"If this entire negotiation is a Batarian intrigue, it will have to be something worth the cost they will incur once their deception is revealed."  
  
An electronic tone sounded and a blue light started to flash above Robert's left hand. Jarod's voice came over the comms. " _Jarod to Dale._ "  
  
Robert touched the light and brought the blue-colored omnitool to life, assuming the form of the familiar multidevices they had stopped using so recently. "Dale here," he said in reply.  
  
" _We've received a transmission from the_ Koenig. _You're going to want to see this._ "  
  
"Where?"  
  
" _The Bridge Conference Room. And you might want to bring Secretary Onaran._ "  
  
Onaran heard that. His head tilted slightly.  
  
"We're on our way," Robert answered.  
  
  
  
  
The entire senior staff had assembled in the bridge-side Conference Room by the time Robert and Onaran had finished going over the latest reports from the _Koenig_. Robert sat back in his chair for a moment and considered the implications.  
  
Julia spoke first on them. "The Batarians have links to the Multiversal black market now. There's no telling what sort of technology they can buy through it."  
  
"And since the buyers are officially 'pirates', the Hegemony will deny all knowledge of what's happened. They'll play up the new technology as seized from the pirates." Robert sighed loudly. "I knew am Rimhar had something up his sleeve."  
  
"Do you think he knows?" asked Onaran.  
  
"He's one of the higher ups in the Hegemony, isn't he? What are the odds he _doesn't_ know something." Robert shook his head. "The only question is how much he knows, and how these talks figure into the Batarians' actual plans. For all we know he might even be the Minister mentioned by the pirates."  
  
Julia said, "Whatever they're doing, it's going to happen soon given the way they talked about it."  
  
"It's got to be something more than a new wave of pirate attacks." Locarno looked from her to Robert and then to Jarod. "Even with new technology, the Batarians are still at a disadvantage."  
  
"What is Commander Carrey doing now?" Onaran asked.  
  
Jarod was the first to answer. "According to his last update, they're still tracking down the source of Batarian transmissions in that area. General Victus is considering attempting an attack, if the target is soft enough."  
  
"Given their location in the galaxy, could Zack call in reinforcements by jump drive?"  
  
"The spatial aspect isn't good. Maybe some ships on outer frontiers. But they're at the far end of the Verge, in the heart of Beta Quadrant. They can't call in any heavy fleet units."  
  
"Still, at least he has that possibility." Robert tapped his hands on the table. "Okay, we know they're up to something, we don't know what they're doing or how. I want everyone on the ship to be on the lookout. Discretely. We can't let this spook the Batarians."  
  
"I'll start going over their comm activity," Jarod said.  
  
"And I will make sure Security is alert to anything further out of the ordinary," added Meridina.  
  
"Good. With that done… let's call it a night, everyone." Robert rubbed at his tired eyes. "Whatever happens, we're going to be busy tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Koenig comes to the assistance of alien wanderers during training exercises with the Citadel races; Robert and his crew attempt to negotiate peace with the Batarian Hegemony.

Doctor Opani checked in one last time on the infirmary before signing off for the day. The Gamma Shift nurse was fully briefed on the condition of the unconscious Quarian patient and possible special needs. She checked on Tali, asleep on the biobed she'd picked and with no issues showing on the biobed scanners.  
  
Tired and hungry, Opani went to the mess hall, or rather the half that hadn't been turned into a sleeping area for the special forces troops they were carrying. She replicated a _kipatiran_ , a warm baked pastry with a vegetable and cheese filling, and a cup of cool fruit juice. An empty table was easily found, even in this reduced space, and she went to work on her food.  
  
She was mostly done when Barnes sat down with a late snack of a pastry she had heard him call a "hot pocket". A replicated "soft drink" still fizzed in a plastic cup. "Hey Doc," he said.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"So, Zack said something about us talking?" Barnes asked. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing is wrong, exactly. But I think that you may have been rude to our guest."  
  
Barnes took a sip of his drink, which might have been an explanation for his sudden sour look. Or it may not have been. Opani waited patiently for him to respond. "Look, I'm acerbic sometimes, yeah, and I can be a jerk. But that doesn't change the fact that she has no training or experience with our technology and equipment. I don't care how good an engineer she thinks she is."  
  
"She seems bright. Eager. This work is part of who she is."  
  
"Sure it is." Barnes bit into his food and frowned. "Ugh. Christ, these replicators make anything and everything taste like ass."  
  
"They always have," Opani pointed out. "Don't change the subject."  
  
That prompted him to look at her, hard. "There isn't a damn subject, Opani. She's a kid and she's not working in my engineering department."  
  
"Why are you so resistant to it?"  
  
"For the same reason you wouldn't want some kid around who thought helping her daddy with bandages makes her capable of performing surgery," he retorted, and there was real heat in his voice. "In fact, that analogy works perfectly, because that's basically what you're asking me to do."  
  
Opani was quiet for a moment, allowing Barnes to take another bite. She felt there was something about the way he was opposed to this, something more than the objections he was listing. "Why won't you give her a chance? You don't need her to run the reactor, just give her a task. Pair her with an engineer and…"  
  
" _No_. _That's final_."  
  
"Why are you being so obstinate…"  
  
Barnes responded by standing up and grabbing his unfinished meal. He tossed it into the replicator and hit the reclaim button. Opani jumped up to do the same and followed him as he stamped out of the mess. "This is none of your damn business," Barnes barked back at her, already knowing she was behind him.  
  
"This is personal," Opani shot back. "It has to be. What has that sweet girl done to you? Certainly you're not listening to the poison from the others about thievery?"  
  
"No, no I'm not," he replied.  
  
"Then why won't you work with her? Find her something to do? She can't be that much younger than you were when you started this. If you could imagine being in her place…"  
  
Barnes whirled around so quickly that Opani nearly walked into him. "That's the problem," he said, his tone reflective of his broken patience. "Because I _can_ imagine being in her place. Because I _was_ in her place."  
  
Opani looked at him with confusion. "What?"  
  
"I've wanted to put together machines since I was a kid," Barnes said. Some of the anger had gone out of his face, replaced by the look of someone dredging through old memories. "I've always wanted to be an engineer. Like my parents. And I always thought of myself as one from the moment I passed my first engineering prep class in high school. And then everything with the Darglan Facility happened, and soon I was running ships and seeing myself as the engineer. But I didn't know jack crap about it, not really. I was still just the kid with a big head and ego ready to fry my brain out if it meant learning more about machines."  
  
Opani remained silent.  
  
"Then I met Scotty." Barnes smiled a little. "And I realized I didn't know jack crap. I still wouldn't know jack crap if he hadn't seen something in me and taught me what I was missing. Me being an engineer is because of him. It took a lot of time, training, and work to be able to do this job. So yeah, I get the girl's position because I've been there. I've _been_ her. And I made enough mistakes back then to know what can go wrong if I let that girl work our most critical systems." He let out a sigh. "So yeah, I get where she's coming from. And that's why I don't want her in Engineering. The kid shouldn't have even been out here, dammit. She sounds college age, not fully grown up. She should be taking classes, not flying scouting missions."  
  
"Her people don't have your ways, or mine. Keep that in mind."  
  
"Then whatever it is they do for higher education. But my point stands."  
  
"I see." Opani rubbed at her forehead. "Thank you for your honesty, and sleep well."  
  
Barnes nodded and walked on to his quarters.  
  
  
  
  
Zack retired to his room. It was the only quarters on the ship that had been fitted to have only one occupant, and that had been at the insistence of Scotty and of Captain Farmer back in the day. " _The ship's commander needs his or her sleep_ " was their argument, and their recommendation was accepted.  
  
It was only times like now that Zack realized _why_ the two Starfleet men had said that.  
  
He sat at his desk in his white uniform undershirt and boxers. Zack's face reflected his sleeplessness and state of mind, how upset he was at what had transpired. In his mind he kept flashing back to the Batarian ship exploding on the viewscreen. Several dozen Batarians had been vaporized in that explosion.  
  
They were pirates, slavers, and in a straight battle he wouldn't have thought twice about their deaths. But this was different. He kept wondering about it. Wondering if he could have found a solution. A way to keep them safely contained on the _Koenig_ , anything that might have seen them live. Anything that would spare him the knowledge that he had left those beings to die. That he had given the order.  
  
His hand crept to his desk's computer control panel. He hit a key to activate his message recorder. "Computer, log this message, deliver when I give the word."  
  
" _Please list recipient_."  
  
Zack swallowed. "Clara Lydia Davis, currently residing on New Caprica, assigned to New Liberty Volunteer Corps as a nurse."  
  
" _Recipient logged. Ready to commence message recording._ "  
  
"Begin." After a moment to compose his thoughts, Zack started speaking. He told her how much he loved her. He told her he missed her. As he did so, he thought about what he was saying, about his feelings.  
  
He didn't want to hurt Clara, so he never told her about some of those feelings. About the occasional dreams where Clara wasn't the one in his arms. The flashbacks to the virtual world his mind had once been pulled into, where Julia Andreys had become Julia Carrey as he had fantasized about so often. He felt ashamed of the fact that a part of him would always be in love with Julia, no matter how much Clara deserved every bit of his love. It made him feel unworthy of both.  
  
Soon he got into the purpose of the message. It was nothing less than a confession, as if she could forgive him for it and grant him absolution. "I've killed in battle, I mean," he said. "I haven't counted how many ships the _Koenig_ has destroyed. I've got no idea how many people have died fighting my ship. But this wasn't that. I left those Batarians to die. To get blown up. Not in a fight, but as an execution. I… I keep thinking I could have saved them. I _should_ have saved them, should have done something… I just don't know what."  
  
Zack went silent as he thought on that. That he had no alternatives save tipping off the Batarians to the loss of their ship, and risking that whatever plan they had in mind would be put into action. He was tormenting himself over a decision that was a lose/lose situation. As Victus had put it, he did what he had to do. And he would have to live with that.  
  
He felt a quiet urge. An urge that ashamed him, even as he imagined the fiery sensation of his father's tequila pouring down that throat. He shook his head to get the thought, the desire, out of it.  
  
"I made the decision," he said quietly. "Now I have to live with it." He stared off into space, and into the corners of his own mind, and dwelled for a moment on his thoughts. "I can live with it," he decided. "It wouldn't be the only bad thing I have to live with." He drew in a breath before shaking his head. "Computer, delete that entire message."  
  
" _Message deleted. Would you like to try again?_ "  
  
"No." Zack shook his head. "No, I don't think so." And with no further remarks, he slid into bed, wondering if he would be seeing that ship explode again in his dreams.  
  
  
  
It was one of those nights again.  
  
It had been weeks since Robert had dealt with the dreams that came to him, offering what he and Meridina believed were possible hints to the future. Now they were back and with a vengeance. He had glimpses of Fassbinder, the SS man thought dead on Gamma Piratus but recently determined to still be alive. The "Aryan ideal" German man's eyes went from deep blue to bright gold and yellow, darkness clinging to him and a sinister smile of triumph crossing his face.  
  
Then it was the girl in red and gold again, crying out as her amber eyes shined with ethereal energy that sent power rippling over Robert. Nearby Julia was on one knee, stripped down to a sleeveless white undershirt and shorts, her face full of determination.  
  
They were gone the next moment. Robert looked around at the Presidium of the Citadel, now beset by fires and smoking rubble. People cried out around him as, to his horror, shadowy figures with singular shining eyes impaled them on strange devices.  
  
The Citadel Council chambers appeared around him. Broken metal forms were scattered before the platform leading to the guest podium. At the podium was a single figure, a Turian, covered in cybernetic enhancements and pieces. Robert had seen this image before. But never had he seemed so familiar.  
  
"Our only hope to survive is to prove ourselves," the Turian said. "Servitude is preferable to extinction."  
  
"We can fight them, we can win!" a Human voice urged. Robert briefly thought it was his, as it was a sentiment he felt within, but despite the haze of the dream he realized it was a woman speaking. And it was a familiar voice. "Can't you see? It's taken you over!"  
  
Robert turned his head to face the direction of the voice. He felt surprise at recognizing the face. _Shepard?_  
  
And then he was alone, in the middle of rubble and debris, his side hurting, and above him was a massive metal monstrosity with a glowing red eye staring down at him. It made a noise, as if the Devil was playing a trumpet through a synthesizer.  
  
Maybe it was that noise that woke him up. Or maybe a part of Robert's mind was tired of the frightening imagery. Either way, he found himself sitting up in his bed. He quickly checked to make sure he hadn't woken up Angel, the instinct firing before his memory reminded him that she wasn't here now.  
  
After the moment passed he found the dream was coming to mind again. The image of the cybernetic Turian was stuck in his head. He felt like he should recognize the figure. But the image blurred as he awakened, the dream distorted by that very waking.  
  
When his omnitool display flashed the numbers 0402 at him, Robert sighed and laid back on the bed, turning to his side as he sought to get comfortable enough to sleep again.  
  
  
  
  
In her life, Tali had slept on far less-comfortable things than the biobed in the infirmary, and her sleep had been quite restful. She woke up to find that only a single nurse was on duty, checking Kon's life signs. Tali did the same and confirmed for the nurse that he was still stable, or that his suit's sensors considered him stable, at least.  
  
With her grumbling stomach in mind, Tali went to the mess hall and the replicator within. Only a few people were present in the room, mostly Humans wearing different uniforms from the ones she had seen Opani, Barnes, and the other ship personnel wearing. She remained clear of them and went to the replicator. She tapped the controls to see a list of dextro-compatible foods loaded into the system. The choices were as varied as she imagined they would be, and she selected a morning meal within seconds.  
  
It was one thing to order the food, however, and another to endure it. She'd tasted replicator food before and knew that it never quite managed to taste proper, but this was utterly atrocious. "Forget it," Tali muttered to herself. She knew just what to do.  
  
Nobody said anything when she returned to the replicator. First she had it reclaim her uneaten meal. But instead of walking away she activated her omnitool and interfaced it with the replicator. This let her run a diagnostic scan on the software and hardware. Seeing the latter made her grumble. She got onto her knees and pulled away the covering for the replicator's internals, revealing the various wires and cords that made up the device's guts. She went to work immediately on it.  
  
Tali became so intent on her work that she was surprised when a voice said, "Are you sure you should be down there?" She swung her head over and up. Two humans, a woman and a man, were standing nearby. "I'm not sure Barnes will appreciate you messing with the replicator," the man said.  
  
"I'm just fixing it," Tali answered. "The matter re-constitution system needs to be re-calibrated, it's completely off."  
  
"Is that why everything's been tasting like crap?" asked the woman. There was something about the redhead with darker-toned bronze skin that Tali thought was interesting. She seemed to stand out compared to other Humans she'd met since arriving on the ship. "Because I've had replicated food before, this is something even worse."  
  
"That's what I was thinking, so I was adjusting the internal systems and recalibrating the system. I think too many unrefined elements were being added. It would explain the taste."  
  
"Well, don't let us interrupt you." The man nodded. "Your name was Tali'Zorah, right?"  
  
Tali nodded. "It is."  
  
"Commander Carter Kane, Allied Systems Marines." Kane offered his hand. Tali looked for a moment before carefully accepting.  
  
"Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance."  
  
Tali accepted Shepard's hand too. "I'm sure you want to eat. I'll be done in a minute."  
  
As she went back to work, Kane said, "If Barnes finds out you're doing this, he's going to go on the warpath."  
  
"I offered to help him keep his ship running well. He chose to ignore me. Well, he can, but I'm not eating terrible food because he and his crew can't be bothered to do a little maintenance on the replicators."  
  
"Oohrah to that," Kane said. "I want my Marines to have edible grub, replicated or not. And they wouldn't let me bring a big store of MREs since we're all cramped in here."  
  
"I just need to double-check this power line… connection to the computer switch looks good…"  
  
After a few moments Tali slid away from the replicator. "Now try."  
  
"Two mugs of coffee, black."  
  
The requested items appeared in brilliant white light. Kane took one and handed it to Tali, taking one for himself. "Mmm. What do you think?" Kane asked after trying his.  
  
"I'm almost convinced this is real coffee," Shepard answered. "Nice job," she said to Tali.  
  
"Thank you. It was a simple repair." She stood up and put the panel back on. "Now I can enjoy my meal too."  
  
  
  
  
Given how badly the mess hall replicator was acting Zack had opted for eating in his quarters with the replicator unit there. As always replicators didn't quite get the oatmeal and buttered toast right, and the milk tasted bland, but it was at least filling.  
  
He was done with the toast and mostly done with the oatmeal. He eyed the closet full of uniforms, which he would be pulling on next, and turned his attention back to his report. He'd had a pleasant enough sleep given the events yesterday and time to internalize what had happened. He wondered if he would have been even more bothered had he been forced to look at the Batarians before they died. If he could have seen their fear.  
  
Zack chose to ignore that for the moment and focus on what he saw on his digital pad. Hajar had been running the night shift and provided meticulous reports. Long range sensors had detected another Batarian ship that was on a different course. Analysis of its course had further refined Magda's calculated point of origin for the transmissions to and from the now-destroyed Batarian raider. Whatever they were looking for was going to be easier to find.  
  
The question would be raised soon: what would they do when they found it? Attempt an attack, a covert landing of troops? Should he try to torpedo enemy ships still in their dock spaces, should it be that kind of facility (he suspected it was)? He really wanted to get Victus' special forces groups into the place to see if they could get their hands on any further information about the Batarians' plans and goals. But risking his ship unnecessarily was not something he could do.  
  
As his final bite of oatmeal went into his mouth, a tone sounded on the ship's speakers. " _Bridge to Carrey_ ," said the voice of Lieutenant Apley.  
  
"I'm here, Ap," Zack answered.  
  
" _We've got something on sensors. You're going to want to see this_. _I think we've found the Batarian base_."  
  
"Be right up."  
  
  
  
  
Zack arrived on the bridge in time to find his command crew taking their proper positions. He went for his chair. "What do you have for me?"  
  
"It's definitely a base," Magda answered. She gave her screen a close inspection. "I won't be able to determine how many ships are there until we get closer, but I'd say there are definitely a few ships, maybe as many as ten."  
  
"Mass sizes?"  
  
"Mostly raider-size. Maybe one or two cruiser-sized ones. I can't give you more accurate counts until we get within sublight sensor range."  
  
"How long?"  
  
"Two hours, twenty minutes," Apley answered.  
  
"Okay." Zack nodded. "Status of our cloaking device?"  
  
"Still operating within normal parameters," Magda said.  
  
"Any sign of a graviton net? Tachyon detection grid?"  
  
"Nothing. I'd be surprised if they could get something like that, even off the black market."  
  
"Sometimes, Magda, I don't think anything would surprise me." Zack settled into his seat and, as he often had to, waited until they were in range.  
  
  
  
  
Barnes ate breakfast in his quarters and double-checked the day's scheduling. Provided there were no alerts - and he expected there would be -- someone would finally be getting to the mess hall replicator by about 1200 to fix it. It was the earliest he could get a repair tech to the job given the niggling little fixes needed from the fire they'd taken the prior day.  
  
Ensign Ling arrived by the time breakfast was done. The Gamma Shift officer was that shift's Engineering Officer; now Ling would sleep in here due to the need for hotbunking. "Ling," Barnes said. "So, how's the husband?"  
  
"He's fine. Our daughter starts school in a month." Ling sighed. He was mostly East Asian in appearance, but the darker tone to his complexion and the shape of his cheeks was from an African grandparent "I had hoped to go get some leave time, but in this line of work, with a war?" He chuckled and hid his obvious sadness. "Unless we're sent somewhere near Sirian space, it's not happening."  
  
"Woh, sorry to hear that," Barnes answered. "The replicator's edible in here by the way. I'm hoping to get the mess hall unit fixed sometime today."  
  
Ling blinked. "What do you mean by that? It's been fixed. I don't think it's ever been better."  
  
Barnes had been turning away from Ling. That made him turn back. "What? What do you mean it's fixed, there was no scheduled…" He frowned.  
  
"Everyone's saying that Quarian survivor we took aboard did it this morning. And I'm telling you, sir, the food's never tasted better. It made my noodles taste more like noodles than liquid polymer, and… sir?" Ling watched as Barnes literally stormed out of his quarters. He might have gone after him to find out what was going on, but with everything going on and knowing that at any time he might be called back to his post, Ling decided to climb into bed instead.  
  
  
  
  
Tali couldn't be too surprised that word swiftly spread on the small ship of her fixing of the mess hall replicator.  
  
What she _hadn't_ expected was the number of people coming to her to fix small things.  
  
"How _did_ you get your omnitool memory so full in the first place?" she asked the Human crewmember sitting in front of her in the mess. Tali looked over the results of the scans she'd had to run on the offending omnitool. "It looks like you were trying to load half of the ship's data into it."  
  
"Our multidevices used to have two hundred megaquad storage capacity," the girl protested. "This thing locked up at just a quarter of that."  
  
"An omnitool shouldn't be storing that much data," Tali said. "It's built with wide-frequency range data-streaming capability. Aside from vital programs and applications, everything you load onto it should be remotely accessed from dedicated data servers."  
  
"Well… I'm still getting used to that," was the sheepish response.  
  
Tali sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. I remember one of my friends, Mela, he once overloaded his omnitool trying to generate a welding flame. We had to spend a day fixing it. This…" She tapped a few more keys. The screen on the young crewwoman's omnitool unfroze. "...just needs a hard reboot cycle. There, your memory buffer is clear."  
  
"Thank you. It might have taken all day for me to get it fixed by the tool shop," the girl said, her voice warm with gratitude.  
  
Tali watched the girl leave and felt content. While she had wanted to help maintain the ship more directly, helping a ship's crew with repairs was at least a decent activity for her. Her father would be far happier than he would with the thought that she was doing nothing of use.  
  
It looked for the moment like no one else was coming to ask her anything. Tali began to relax.  
  
She stopped relaxing when the door slid open and Barnes entered. His eyes focused on her with clear frustration and anger in them. "You!" He stomped up. "What the hell were you doing?!"  
  
"Excuse me?" Tali asked.  
  
"Oh, don't give me that. I've heard all about the mess hall replicator. You're a guest on this damn ship, you do not open up equipment and start fiddling with it to see how it works!" Barnes slammed his hand on the table. "One thing wrong and you could cause food poisoning, or worse, to anyone who…"  
  
Tali stood up. She wasn't as tall as Barnes, but she didn't have to incline her head so far to face him directly. "Listen, I've had enough of you thinking I'm that incompetent. I know replicator technology too! Lan'Durah taught almost everyone on the _Rayya_ about them when he brought the technology back from his Pilgrimage."  
  
"Oh, really. Alright, let's play this game." Barnes activated his omnitool and went over to the replicator. "Let's see… matter stream regulators… within proper limits. Control systems… responding normally." Barnes' voice started to lose its angry energy as, bit by bit, his diagnostic showed green fields for every part of the machine. "...matter re-constitution matrix… calibrated correctly." He started to mumble. "Damn, like it's fresh off the…" He cleared his throat. "Computer, Barnes Order Number 4."  
  
The replicator obeyed and a cup of hot cocoa with a marshmallow appeared. He took the marshmallow and dropped it into the frothy brown drink. After giving it a moment to melt he sipped the hot fluid. And there was no mistaking the look of shock on his face.  
  
It tasted… _good_. Better than normal for a replicator, almost like the real thing. "Last time I tried this it was so hot I almost burnt my tongue off," he mumbled lowly. He took another drink and savored the warm, chocolate flavor on his taste buds, touched with the creamy remains of the marshmellow. Slowly he glanced toward Tali. She had crossed her arms. And he was certain there was a satisfied look under that featureless faceplate of hers.  
  
"Well." Barnes coughed and set the cocoa down on the replicator. With a tap of the key the system reclaimed the beverage. "Um… crap." He rubbed at his forehead and couldn't help but notice everyone was looking at him. "Yeah, I've got nothing. I'm the asshole here. That's… hell, that's work worthy of my best, of Scotty's best. Recalibrating the matter re-constitution system to that level… it's brilliant. I'd love to…"  
  
"Quarian!"  
  
All eyes turned to the entrance to the mess hall. Three Turians entered, Guard Captain Vidinos in the lead. All focused directly on Tali. "Where'd you put it?"  
  
"Put what?" Tali asked, confused.  
  
"The auto-spanner that went missing from the toolkit of my squad's gunsmith," Vidinos answered. "Where did you take it, Quarian?"  
  
"An auto-spanner? Why would I need an auto-spanner, why would I take _yours_?" Tali stood her ground as Vidinos and the men with him walked up to her. They spread out enough that they were clearly cutting off any avenue of escape. One of the Turians activated their omnitool and began to scan her.  
  
"It's a new model, just issued by Palaven Command," Vidinos said. "The kind of new technology you Quarians just love to get your hands on. So, I'm going to ask again… _where is it?_ "  
  
"I don't have it, I wouldn't _want it_."  
  
"I'm not reading it, sir," the Turian with the scanner said.  
  
"Any interference?" Vidinos looked to his man. "It wouldn't surprise me if her suit is shielded to prevent people from finding things. It's how Quarians would operate." As he spoke, Vidinos seemed oblivious, or perhaps simply uncaring, about the looks he was getting from the others in the mess hall. Barnes was staring at him in near disbelief.  
  
"There's no null spots, sir, nothing to show shielding. She's clean."  
  
"There, you see?" Tali said, her voice laced with irritation. "I don't know what problem you have with my people, but you can't just accuse me of being a thief…"  
  
"I've been around enough Quarians to know what you people are like, always looking for new tech to take home, not caring who it belongs to," Vidinos retorted. He nodded to one of his men. "We'll find where you hid it. I'm sure you'll tell us after time in the brig."  
  
By this point one of the other Turians grabbed Tali by the arm. "Hey!" she cried. "Let go!" A second Turian grabbed her other arm. "You can't do this! I didn't take anything!"  
  
"Of course you didn't. That's what your kind always say." Vidinos turned around. When he stepped, his men stepped, and they began to pull Tali with them despite her struggling.  
  
Vidinos only managed three steps before Barnes moved in his way. "Hey, Vidinos, I don't know who the frak you think you are, but you're damn well not a senior officer of this crew, and you don't have authority to put _anyone_ in the brig without our say-so."  
  
"Stand aside, _Lieutenant_ , I'm the superior officer and you're out of order."  
  
Barnes got into his face, scowling with fury. "Hey, asshole, I'm a frakking senior officer on this ship. I'm the Goddamned Chief Engineer. I don't have to do jack crap if you say it. Fact is you don't have jack crap for authority on this ship, I do, and I'm frakking tell you to _let her go_."  
  
Vidinos may have noticed the gathering personnel, or he may not have. His soldiers certainly did see as the other half dozen Alliance crewmembers and Marines in the room started to move toward Barnes. But all Vidinos did was glare into Barnes' eyes. "I don't know why you care about this _suit rat_ " - and the emphasis made it clear Vidinos intended to fullest meaning in the slur - "but I've got three of the best special forces soldiers that the Turian Hierarchy has to offer, and I'm not letting the Quarian get away with stealing from us. We're taking her into custody, either in your brig or in our barracks. If you've got a problem, take it up with Victus."  
  
"I'm not letting you take her anywhere."  
  
"Who's going to stop us? You?"  
  
"How about me?" another voice declared.  
  
Shepard stepped up beside Barnes. She directed a glare of her own at Vidinos. "Lieutenant Barnes is right, Vidinos," she said to him. "On this ship, he's got the authority, not me and not you. So do what he says before he has _you_ dragged to the brig."  
  
Vidinos' mandibles twitched. If his face had the same muscles as a Human's, he would be scowling, and Barnes and Shepard were both certain of that. "I want that auto-spanner found," he said. "It's property of the Turian Hierarchy."  
  
"I'll have my people look for it when they can," Barnes said. "Now move on, you're causing a disruption."  
  
"Let the Quarian go, men," Vidinos ordered. His troops obeyed. "I'm sure these Humans will learn the same hard lessons we did about the Quarians, right around the time the Quarian strips their ship bare."  
  
With that parting remark Vidinos and his men stepped past Shepard and Barnes. They moved on to the exit door.  
  
Kane stepped in before they could leave. The faint semblance of a smile crossed his face. "Hey, Guard Captain," he said. He brought up his right hand. It was gripping a tool that looked like a ratchet wrench with a small specialized motor assembly embedded in it. "A member of the _Koenig_ crew found this and gave it to me. It looks like someone left some fancy new auto-spanner in the armory over the course of the night. I thought the mark looked Turian, so…" When Vidinos moved his hand toward it Kane held it out and let him take it. "It's not bad either. Not as good as our latest, I mean. Ours has an auto-adjustment setting so we don't have to change the spanner socket out. One size fits all. Maybe your people should look into buying some from us."  
  
Vidinos turned away to walk past Kane. He stomped out of the mess hall with his men just behind.  
  
"That guy is an ass," Barnes grumbled.  
  
"A bigoted one." Kane nodded to him. "It's a good thing one of your people found this. Guys like that can cause a lot of trouble."  
  
"Did that asshole really think he'd get away with attacking us?" Barnes asked Shepard.  
  
"Maybe. Sad thing is, Vidinos is a damn good spec forces officer," Shepard said. "It would be a lot easier to hate his guts if he were an incompetent idiot too."  
  
"Life would be a lot easier if all the assholes were incompetent too."  
  
"Yeah. If only." Barnes turned to Tali, who was now seated. His face was turning red from shame and embarrassment. "Hey, kid… Tali, right?"  
  
"Yes," she answered.  
  
Barnes drew in a breath and walked up to her. He slid onto the bench for the next table, facing her instead of said table. "Your work on the replicator was great. I mean, it showed real ingenuity, a bit of creativity…"  
  
Tali remained silent. But the way she kept her arms crossed was anything but silent.  
  
"Aw, hell… I was an idiot, okay?" Barnes said. "A big dumb idiot asshole who assumed and didn't check things out. You still want to work in Engineering while you're here?"  
  
"I would. I'm a Quarian engineer, and it feels wrong for me to not help maintain a ship I'm staying on."  
  
"Fair enough." Barnes extended a hand. "Let's get down to Main Engineering. Poniatowski and I will see where we can put you."  
  
Tali's posture relaxed slightly. "Thank you," she said, in clear relief.  
  
  
  
  
The quiet on the _Koenig_ bridge ended in the final minutes before their arrival. "I'm getting short-range scans of the system. Passive only." Magda went to work at her Ops station.  
  
Zack turned in his chair to face her. "What do we have?"  
  
"It looks like an A1-grade star," Magda said. "Reading four planets and a thin asteroid belt between the first and second. Three of the planets are gas giants, the innermost planet looks like it's a D-grade barren world, no atmosphere." After another few seconds Magda's attention clearly focused on one of her screens. "I'm detecting a faint power signature near one of the moons around the third planet."  
  
"Just one signature?" Zack asked.  
  
"With passive-only sensors, I wouldn't necessarily pick up ships in standby mode," Magda said. "Until we get closer I can't tell you anything more."  
  
"How much closer?"  
  
"Sublight range."  
  
Zack thought on that. The _Koenig_ 's Darglan-designed cloaking device was just as good as something the Romulans could field, if not better, but there were still plenty of ways to give themselves away depending on what the Batarians might have with them. "What's the fourth gas giant like?"  
  
"It's an ice giant-type. Methane, ammonia, water, and sulfur are the primary components of the atmosphere, various other elements. The magnetic field is on the higher end for ice giants, though, approaching small Saturn-type gas giant level. I think there might be a higher quantity of ferrous minerals in the convecting parts of the giant, but we'd need better sensors, or a probe, to confirm."  
  
"Not really what we're here for." Zack thought of that. "Could we use the fourth planet to hide ourselves more effectively?"  
  
"Let me examine the four moons first. Their orbital pattern and magnetic fields are…" Magda let the sentence hang. "Wow. It looks like one of the moons is actually conducting its own small mass effect field. I'm guessing a high concentration of eezo being subjected to electrical activity from other minerals. Maybe even a naqia deposit… yes." Magda looked to Zack and nodded. "I'll relay the coordinates to Apley, but if we stay in that section we should be hidden from any scans they can throw at us."  
  
"And our scans?"  
  
"Well, active scans might still get picked up." Magda went to work. "But maybe… I might be able to make a few light scans and make them look like routine electromagnetic activity from the fourth planet's system."  
  
"If you can."  
  
Things went quiet again until the thrum of the warp drive disengaging filled the ship. Apley's hands moved over the sublight controls. "We've dropped out of warp at the north pole of the ice giant. I'm moving us to the point that Lieutenant Navaez specified."  
  
"Sensors are showing an artificial structure in orbit over the third planet's outermost moon," Magda said.  
  
"On screen."  
  
The holo-viewscreen activated and showed the image of a squat structure with a crater-studded moon framing the bottom of the image. The white light of the system's star was currently coming from the side of the image, illuminating half of the gray and brown-hulled station in pale sunlight. Several arms were erected from the middle of the central structure downward, making Zack think of a jellyfish crossed with an umbrella. Ships were visibly attached to most of these arms, but the central arm continued all the way down to the moon. "Is that a tether to keep them attached to the moon?"  
  
"I'm getting heat sources from that central shaft," replied Magda. "It's a lift system. Actually, I'm starting to wonder if the base is actually on the moon. Even if it isn't, I'm betting they're mining the moon as well."  
  
"Could pirates build something like this?" asked Sherlily. "I mean, it's easy to build a station, relatively speaking. But tethering one to a moon? Where do you get the resources for this?"  
  
"It's not hard to guess," Zack murmured. "But proving it is another matter." Zack looked over the image. "You know, this place looks like it could have a _lot_ more ships."  
  
"Maybe they're protecting other assets in the area?"  
  
"Maybe." Zack thought of that. "Or maybe there's more to this than we think. I mean, you don't build a base this big unless you've got enough ships to make it worthwhile. There's what, five there?"  
  
"Four. And what looks like a partially-completed ship on one of the berths." Magda shook her head. "In fact, it looks like some of those docks might be construction docks. This might actually be a _shipyard_."  
  
"If they're getting a lot of technology from other universes, that makes sense," Zack noted. "It gives them somewhere to build new ships using that technology." His eyes remained focused on the base. "Can we get life sign scans from here?"  
  
"Not enough to say what's in there, just that there are living things aboard," Magda said. "We'll need to get closer, or use active sensors, to get more information."  
  
"Not right now." Zack shook his head. "I don't want to give away our presence. Continue what scans you get, I want every bit of knowledge we can find about this place without giving ourselves away." Zack tapped his comm control on his chair. "Bridge to General Victus."  
  
Only a moment passed before the Turian general replied, " _Victus here_."  
  
"General, we've found something, a space facility of some sort. We're taking scans now, and we should have something for you and the other commanders in an hour or so."  
  
" _Very well. I'll have the team commanders in your conference room in ninety minutes. Victus out._ "  
  
"Ninety minutes, Magda," Zack said. "No pressure, right?"  
  
"No, sir," she breathed, ignoring the fact that there was, indeed, pressure. "No pressure…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Koenig comes to the assistance of alien wanderers during training exercises with the Citadel races; Robert and his crew attempt to negotiate peace with the Batarian Hegemony.

The second day of the diplomatic meeting was going about the same as the first.  
  
"Had you contacted the governments of this region before settling, you would have known not to colonize on those worlds," Tahrad stated evenly. His remark was a response to Onaran's protest at the extent of Batarian claims, which made up over half of the Alliance's settled zone in M4P2. "The Batarian Hegemony will not surrender its claims because of your haste."  
  
"Your claims are hardly reasonable," Onaran responded, maintaining his own even tone. Robert could feel that he wasn't feeling "even", however, but was increasingly frustrated by the intransigence of the Batarians.  
  
Nor was that the only source of frustration.  
  
"Whatever the reasonableness of the Batarian claims, the point is a fair one," stated Benezia. "The Alliance made no effort to establish diplomatic contact with local civilizations before you began to settle. I have to agree with Minister am Rimhar on that matter."  
  
"There were scant signs of any interstellar civilizations in this region of space at the time," Onaran said. "Nor were there any indications of territorial claims. Even the Citadel Council does not recognize these Batarian claims, Madame Matriarch. And it is unfair to hold our lack of information on the Citadel Council's existence against us."  
  
A new voice entered the conversation, and from an unexpected source. "While you are not Human, Secretary Onaran, I cannot help but hear Human whining in your words," stated Benezia's Turian bodyguard. "Those are the same words Humanity used to excuse their reckless activation of a mass relay in complete defiance to Citadel law and common sense."  
  
Onaran eyed the Turian. Robert looked his way and felt the voice jolt his memory. "I am sorry, Matriarch Benezia, but I am unfamiliar with your associate. Is he with the Council?"  
  
Benezia gave the Turian a brief, irritated look before nodding. "He is under Council authority, yes, but I do agree his words were unnecessary and uncalled for. I apologize."  
  
The Turian showed no response to that.  
  
Robert held up a hand and got a nod from Benezia. He looked to am Rimhar and asked, in a careful a tone as he could, "Minister, are you seriously suggesting that we should just pack up and evacuate over half of our colonies in this universe because the Batarian Hegemony might, in some unknown future, actually take physical control of those worlds?"  
  
"That would be the appropriate course for you to take, yes," the Batarian minister answered. "And it would have the added benefit of reducing your exposure to the criminal elements that have led to so many regrettable exchanges between our governments."  
  
The gall of am Rimhar was shocking, but put delicately enough to, as always, give him room to evade the accusation of a threat.  
  
Robert eyed Onaran, sensing he had a point to make. "A curious observation, Minister, as criminal organizations so rarely conform themselves to such things. It is just as likely they would take up bases in our abandoned territory to renew their attacks upon us. Especially if they sense weakness."  
  
"I find it unlikely. Such criminals are far more likely to turn their attentions to more attractive targets."  
  
_Like the Systems Alliance's colonies in the Verge_ , Robert thought.  
  
"Interesting how familiar you are with these organizations' behavior," Onaran observed.  
  
Tahrad suddenly jumped to his feet. "Are you accusing me of collusion with criminals, Mister Secretary?!"  
  
The ferocity of the words were not matched by the emotions Robert sensed in the Batarian. He briefly eyed Onaran, and it was clear the Dorei knew he was being toyed with. "Of course not, Minister," Onaran said. "I would never make such a dreadful accusation. I feel we are beginning to make progress in these talks and would never jeopardize this. I am merely curious as to your familiarity with their actions and was hoping you might share more insights with us."  
  
Two of Tahrad's eyes narrowed. He sat back down wordlessly and glanced toward Benezia.  
  
"While it is clear that your positions are not compatible," she said, "I believe that we are making some strides toward resolving our differences. A question of compensations for settling your rival territorial claims may provide us a break from this impasse…"  
  
As Benezia began to lay out her thoughts on compensation for withdrawing from worlds or claims, Robert settled his eyes on her Turian companion. He could feel the impatience and the raw dislike in the man. But there was something more to him.  
  
Robert lowered his arms below the rim of the table. He activated his omnitool on a low-light mode and began typing out a request to the bridge.  
  
_I wonder how Zack's mission is going_? Robert thought to himself as he did so.  
  
  
  
  
The special forces commanders were at the table with Zack and Victus. An additional pair of seats had been brought in for Barnes, Magda, and Sherlily. Magda was using her omnitool to remotely control the holo-projector built into the conference room table. A three-dimensional, accurately-colored model of the Batarian pirate base hovered in the air over them, spilling gray and brown light over the assembled. "Our scans have confirmed the following," she began. A tap to her omnitool highlighted the central shaft linking the base to the moon. "This is the central tether attaching the facility in question to what appears to be a mining facility below the surface of the mine. Passive scans only tell me so much about this underground facility, unfortunately. And active scans could give us away, even through a cloak."  
  
"You mean they can see this vessel through its cloak if you engage active sensors?" Lidiks asked.  
  
"Not necessarily. It's like if someone in a foggy room of mirrors shines a light at you. You may not be completely sure _where_ the source is, but you know someone's out there shining lights."  
  
"And we'd lose the advantage of surprise." Shepard nodded. "Okay, so we go in without knowing everything. That's nothing new. What can you tell us about the orbital base?"  
  
"Passive scans tell us quite a bit more about it," Magda said. With a tap of her omnitool she zoomed in on it. "They're definitely powered by fusion cores. The docking arms include machinery for starship construction and repair, but nothing above a certain dimension and mass. I suspect anything more powerful than a destroyer-sized ship can only be resupplied or patched up here, not built."  
  
"So they probably have a bigger repair yard somewhere," Zack said.  
  
"Most likely in Batarian space," Lidiks stated. "Whatever their links may be to the Batarian government, the Hegemony would never allow such organizations to field cruiser-grade warships independently."  
  
"Analysis of the gravitational profile of the base, and the heat patterns within, indicate there are some living areas toward the outer decks of the facility. Quite a few, actually." Magda zoomed in toward the upper decks. "The heat profiles indicate that the center of the orbital facility forms the receiving area for whatever comes up from the moon, with persistent heat profiles here." An area toward the middle of the structure, just off of the center to the left of the image. "Given the intensity of the thermal profile I'd guess this is a command chamber of some sort." Another key tap brought up more areas. "And these are the locations of the fusion cores."  
  
"Those would be our ideal targets," Vidinos said. "Could your ship hit them in a firing pass?"  
  
"Those look deep enough that I can't guarantee we'd get them in one pass," Zack said. He looked to Barnes. "Tom?"  
  
"I'd have to know the material composition to tell you for sure." Barnes looked over the sensor records. "I mean, the mass readings imply the presence, or really lack of presence, of some materials. But I'd need a sample. And since we can't get one, all I can say is that I wouldn't bet on it."  
  
"What about transporting in explosives?" Kane asked. "Could we cripple enough of their power sources to knock out their base's operations?"  
  
"We can take out maybe half of them in a single beaming," Barnes said. "I mean, assuming one bomb per reactor core. And if their safety precautions are crap, we might even cause a meltdown that takes out the whole place. But they've got enough redundancy that I don't think that's enough to cripple them. And if they can raise shields… that means no assault teams beaming over."  
  
"Given they have to protect the docking arms, could their shield perimeter be out far enough for us to decloak _within_ the shields?" Zack asked, looking at Barnes. "I mean, if we can get that close without being detected."  
  
Barnes and Magda exchanged glances and, after a moment, nods. "Yes," Magda said. "That is possible."  
  
"Of course, they've got turreted weapon emplacements," Barnes said, pointing to said weapons on the hull. "And our shields will be down."  
  
"What kind of weapons are they?"  
  
"Looks like mass effect cannons," Barnes said. "But frankly, the only thing I can tell you is that they don't have phaser emitters set into the hull. They could be particle cannons for all I know, or plasma cannons. Lasers, disruptors, mass drivers. Any number of weapons I wouldn't want us to get hit with."  
  
"So we get one or two transports, and one salvo, before we have to raise shields," Zack noted. He continued looking at the structure. "April, how much could we take out with one opening salvo?"  
  
She looked over it. "Depending on our attack vector… Well, a double salvo of two torpedoes each, that's four emplacements. And if we line up the main battery…" She ran her hand over the holo-image. "I could probably get seven of these emplacements with my best shot."  
  
"Unfortunately, there appears to be at least fourteen on each facing of the station." Shepard shook her head. "So you'll need time to take out the others. And possibly those ships in the docks. We're looking at beaming over just one team in the first wave."  
  
"Then we should send our best." Vidinos looked to Victus. "My people will go."  
  
"How much training do you have in assault beaming, Vidinos?" Kane asked. "That's one of our specialties."  
  
"There's nothing you can do that we can't," Vidinos said in reply.  
  
Victus remained silent and refused to intervene in the squabble. He directed his eyes to Zack. "Commander Carrey, your ship will be at risk for this operation. What would you prefer doing?"  
  
Zack considered his reply carefully. He looked over the structure carefully, focusing his attention on the weapon emplacements and the enemy ships that would undoubtedly be looking to blast them to pieces once the fight started. This, plus the confined space they would be operating in if they remained inside the base's shield perimeter, would make the attack tricky. It would require every bit of his ships' maneuverability to make this work.  
  
"We need to give the assault team our best," he said to Victus. "So I suggest a joint team." Zack gestured to the assembled commanders. "We send these five together, with one of their people to round the team out."  
  
"And who will be in command?" Vidinos asked, in the kind of tone that made it clear he wanted that role.  
  
"I'll leave that up to the General to decide," Zack answered.  
  
"I'll consider that, and who will accompany you." Victus turned his head from Vidinos to Zack. "So you transport over a strike team while launching an opening salvo. What would you do afterward?"  
  
Zack was already looking at Sherlily and the display, imagining his ship's approach vector and where they could go after the opening attack. "We start trying to pick their ships off, and take out their remaining weapon emplacements. We'll be putting everything we have into engines and weapons and hope our proximity allows us to move more quickly than their firing emplacements can track. Meanwhile our strike team will get their shields down and we beam over more troops, if needed." Zack turned his head toward Victus. "Although a lot depends on what you want to accomplish, General. If we send more teams, we might be able to blow the place up, but it means we'll take longer getting out of here. A smash-and-grab aiming at taking the contents of their computers could work better."  
  
"Intelligence is something I wish to acquire, yes," Victus said. "But if we can remove this facility, I want to make that our objective."  
  
"Well, let's see what happens when the mission starts. There's too much we don't know about this place to make plans beyond the opening of our attack."  
  
Victus nodded at that. "I concur. Everyone, get your teams ready for deployment in case we need them. As soon as Commander Carrey reports his ship's readiness to move in, get to the transporters."  
  
"Yes sir," Vidinos said.  
  
"Yes, General," Shepard added.  
  
Zack looked back to the holographic image of the pirate station and frowned. "Where are all of their ships?" he wondered to himself while Victus and the troop commanders filed out of the room _The last thing we need is for them to come home right after we start this_. "Is there anything on long range sensors, Magda?"  
  
"Nothing the last time I checked," she answered.  
  
"I know we'll be busy, but try to keep an eye out all the same. I don't want to get taken by surprise." Zack stood. "Okay everyone, let's get to our stations. We'll give Victus and his teams some time to get ready and then we're going in."  
  
Everyone present nodded in agreement.  
  
  
  
  
Barnes stepped into Main Engineering and found all of his Engineering staff waiting for him, with Tali standing among them. "Alright people, we've got maybe ten minutes before we're going into combat. I want everyone on standby for combat stations. Kellerman, you're going to be on damage control."  
  
"Sir?" The Ensign, an Anglo-American from Universe L2M1, gave Barnes a confused look. "Are you sure? Who's going to be monitoring the coolant systems?"  
  
"Our volunteer, Tali'Zorah," Barnes answered, looking at her. Seeing the surprise in some of the others, he added, "Anyone who's eaten in the mess today knows what's she got in this line of work, and I'm betting coolant lines on Quarian ships aren't any different than on ours."  
  
"We don't use plasma, but that seems to be the only difference," Tali revealed.  
  
"I'll be doing my usual thing here with Lieutenant Poniatowski. Any questions?" When nobody said anything he nodded. "Everyone take your places then. Things should start happening soon."  
  
The assembled engineering staff dispersed to head toward their battle stations. Tali took up her place at the coolant monitoring station. "All lines are functioning. No faults showing. We're ready." She looked to Barnes as he looked toward her from his station by Main Engineering's Master Systems Display. "Lieutenant Barnes?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Thank you again." There was gratitude through her partly-synthesized voice. "It feels good that I'll get to help you deal with the people who hurt my friend."  
  
Barnes nodded. "You're welcome."  
  
  
  
  
It was all quiet on the bridge of the _Koenig_ when Zack confirmed that the teams were ready. "If we can, I'd like to get their second wave aboard," he said to everyone. "Six people aren't going to be enough."  
  
"I'll see if I can buy you the extra time," Apley said.  
  
"I'll give it my best." Sherlily nodded at tactical. "Phasers and torpedoes ready. I'll fire as soon as the cloak goes down."  
  
"On my mark then. Ap, take us in."  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
Still hidden behind her cloaking field, the _Koenig_ moved out from her hiding place at full impulse. Zack waited patiently as the minutes ticked away while the ship crossed the millions of kilometers between the two ice giants and their moons. It felt almost like forever while the seconds crawled past.  
  
Gradually the Batarian pirate base grew larger on their screen, looming with an unmistakable malice. It seemed silly to think that his small ship could trouble such a place. But Zack knew they could, that they _would_.  
  
As the station filled the screen, Magda gave him the signal he had been expecting. "We're within the likely shield perimeter."  
  
"Steady…" Zack ignored the sweat that he felt forming on his forehead. "Mark!"  
  
Everyone acted in sequence. Magda deactivated the cloaking device. Within milliseconds power surged into the torpedo launcher mechanisms, sending out a full spread of solar torpedoes. The drive fields of the projectiles gave them a white-blue glow that shined over the hull of the station before they crashed into the weapon emplacements they'd been lobbed at, destroying them in bursts of energy and light.  
  
"Transporter Station is beaming our team over," Magda reported.  
  
  
  
  
Even as Magda spoke, Shepard and the others materialized in a corridor on the station. By common agreement Nisia, the Asari, was in charge, and she had brought along one of her compatriots to fill out the first team. "We've arrived on target," she said, checking her omnitool. "Move out!"  
  
The six started moving. Ten seconds after they did, another six figures appeared from bright columns of light. Led by Lidiks' subordinate Captain Letos, and including Shepard's subordinate Alenko, they followed the first team.  
  
Kane and Shepard were on point with Nisia and Vidinos behind them. Even as they moved on, both were waiting to hear for the arrival of the third group.  
  
It didn't come.  
  
  
  
  
The opening run went off as planned. Mostly.  
  
The torpedo barrage was followed up another second later by phasers, firing as soon as the energy surged into the capacitors for the emitters. The powerful amber pulses blasted apart more of the weapon emplacements. As Apley turned to maintain his maneuver, the aft torpedo launchers fired and took out another pair of emplacements.  
  
"Second wave is beaming," Magda said.  
  
Zack nodded. Space around started to light up in energy, green bolts that were barely missing his ship. Apley kept any of the shots from hitting.  
  
"Second wave over. Preparing third…"  
  
Before Magda could say anything else, one of the green bolts crashed into the _Koenig_ 's hull, causing the entire ship to shudder. "Direct hit on dorsal hull," Magda confirmed. "Raising shields." Moments later very slight rumbles shook the deck. "Shields holding at ninety-seven percent."  
  
"Damage report."  
  
"Armor damage only… wait. I'm getting a fault signal from the cloaking device, it looks like a cloaking emitter cell took a partial hit. Our cloaking device won't work."  
  
"So we're committed."  
  
" _Victus to bridge. Can we send the third team?_ "  
  
Before Zack could reply, the ship shook slightly again. "Shields still holding."  
  
"I'm trying to evade the fire and give Tactical openings, sir, but those turrets are tracking really fast. I can't get out of their lines of fire."  
  
"That's a negative, General. Not unless our teams disable their defensive systems." Zack turned his attention elsewhere. "Apley, April, forget the turrets. Time for those ships, before they finish launching."  
  
"Roger."  
  
"Magda, what are we being hit with?"  
  
"Plasma fire," Magda confirmed. "Consistent with Coserian technology."  
  
"Coserians." Zack had heard of them; a former big bad empire that used to dominate parts of what was now Gersallian and Dorei space.  
  
As the thought came to him the _Koenig_ aligned with one of the docking arms. Phasers lashed out at the Batarian pirate vessel still tethered to it. Evidently the ship hadn't been close to ready for action, and hadn't raised shields; Sherlily's aim and fire pattern demolished the ship in two barrages. As they swept past two shots from the dorsal phaser array took out the ship's power core, detonating it. The ship was consumed in the energy of a matter/anti-matter reaction.  
  
The next ship they targeted fared little better, being turned into a husk in space by the phaser blasts and a torpedo that gutted it. They turned and faced the third ship. When Sherlily directed their main batteries' fire over it, the amber bursts were stopped by crackles of yellow light that formed over it. She pumped more fire into the ship as they sped by, but it remained shielded and intact. More importantly, it pulled away from the dock it had been tied to.  
  
The _Koenig_ jolted once more, this time from yellow spears of light coming from the fourth ship, now free and moving to pursue. "We got half of them," Zack said. "Let's see what we can do about these two. Ap, Attack Plan Hotel?"  
  
"Sounds good to me, sir," Apley said. And with that, he sent the _Koenig_ into a dizzying array of spins and turns to avoid the mass of incoming fire.  
  
  
  
  
The Batarians had some warning of what was hitting them. But the warning hadn't come quickly enough for them to protect their command center from the spec-forces team.  
  
Shepard and Kane went in first. He started with a powerful spread of flash-bang grenades from his rifle's underslung launcher. His helmet's optics protected his eyes from the bursts of light that caused cries of surprise and anguish from the beings in the command center.  
  
This opened them up for Shepard's assault. Biotic energy gathered around her and, in an instant, she was propelling forward like she had been shot from a cannon. She slammed into the Batarian in the central "pit" of the control room, sending him flying. With a quick turn Shepard brought her shotgun to bear. There was a thunder in the room in the moment before the mass effect-propelled flechettes from her Katana-model shotgun tore through the torso of a second Batarian.  
  
Kane opened fire on the other corner, taking out one target and sending the others to cover. At the corner of his eye he saw movement looked toward what, he quickly realized, was _not_ a Batarian.  
  
"Secure the chamber!" Nisia shouted, moving in with one of Vidinos' men. The Asari-make assault rifle in her hands fired toward the other far corner.  
  
"Down!" Kane shouted, ducking behind a control station, as the non-Batarian figure he recognized brought an arm up. A quick whir filled the air as a cannon emplacement appeared on the being's arm, the barrel formed from the palm of a cybernetic hand. A bolt of green energy nearly hit Shepard, spared by her instinctive reaction to Kane's warning.  
  
Nisia turned her attention to the attacker. He - or she - was from a species she'd never seen before, a gray-skinned humanoid with three eyes on their head arranged like points on an inverted triangle, a ridge of bone between each eye that connected to a skull covered in black and dark gray metal. The upper right eye was rimmed by a cybernetic implant. The suit, in contrast to the browns and reds the Batarians favored, was rust-colored leather of some form that stretched over a wide body, wider than normal for most bipedal or humanoid species.  
  
An amused smirk came to the face of the cyborg when Nisia opened fire. Emerald energy crackled and slivers of metal clanked harmlessly against the ground.  
  
Nisia and the Turian had to leap for cover when another emerald bolt came from the cyborg's arm. It smashed into the bulkhead behind them and exploded.  
  
"What the hell is that thing, Kane?!" Shepard asked from her cover.  
  
"I think it's a Jeaxian, but I've never seen one before!"  
  
"What the hell is a…"  
  
Shepard couldn't finish the sentence in time. The cyborg blasted the station she was hiding behind. An explosion of metal and ceramics created a storm of shrapnel and left the station demolished. Kane looked to see Shepard blown to the ground, either hurt or stunned and unable to move for the moment.  
  
The energy shield the cyborg had was strong. He couldn't be sure how strong since there was no telling how much power it could generate. Kane opted for a more raw force approach. With a quick key press he swapped his grenade launcher attachment from flash-bangs to charge grenades. Ineffectual fire from Nisia and the growing number of allies in the room was causing the Jeaxian cyborg's energy shield to remain constantly visible. He - Kane was mostly certain the Jeaxian was male - was directing a blast toward Lidiks and a second Turian. Alenko was remaining in cover at the door where Vidinos was now stepping through.  
  
"Fire in the hole!" Kane opened up with the grenade launcher, firing his entire available clip in five seconds. There was a roar in the air from the micro-rockets that kept the grenades on course, with some acceleration toward their target.  
  
One by one the charge grenades struck. They lived up to their name, directing the energy release from their shaped charge payloads into jets of plasma that directed their full fury into one small cone of effect. The blasts knocked the Jeaxian back, one by one, while the green shield flickered. The last blast caused the green energy to crackle weakly and seem to short out. A lance of plasma drilled into the side of the Jeaxian. He screamed, but he didn't go down.  
  
Kane was so busy shooting the grenades he didn't see Shepard get back up. There was a burst of air and energy when she slammed into the cyborg with a biotic charge. Its shield had been depleted momentarily by the grenade barrage by Kane, allowing Shepard's attack to connect and send the cyborg flying into the far bulkhead wall. After a moment it started to stand.  
  
"Sustained fire!" Nisia shouted, and everyone heeded her. Shepard's shotgun barked again, Kane's rifle opened up, and a host of other weapons did so as well. The Jeaxian screeched as energy and metal began to rip through unshielded flesh and metal. Kane's fire ended with the depletion of his charge clip. As he went to change it, other guns quieted as they overheated.  
  
When the firing was over the Jeaxian was slumped against the wall, his body reduced to a pile of blood and torn flesh with sparking cybernetics still active where it hadn't been broken.  
  
Kane brought his rifle up. "Okay, the chamber is…"  
  
The Jeaxian's arm came up and aimed right at him. Green energy formed around the barrel as it prepared to fire…  
  
A single gunshot blew what was left of the Jeaxian's head off. The arm flopped lifelessly before blowing up from the gathered energy.  
  
All heads turned to where Guard Captain Vidinos had entered the room. His Phaeton rifle was still raised up to where its scope was parallel to his right eye. He lowered it as if nothing of importance had happened. "It looks like the chamber is clear," he said to the assembled.  
  
Nisia nodded. She looked to Alenko and one of her Asari, the one who had joined them in the first wave. "Gain access to the station's systems and see what you can do about disabling their defenses. And I want all intelligence data you can glean from their databanks. Everything about their operations, their plans, and their assets. I want to know how many people are here."  
  
"And if there are any more like that thing, I'd hope," Shepard remarked, looking to the messy remains of the Jeaxian cyborg. While the others went to work she looked at Kane. "Which species was it, anyway?"  
  
"A Jeaxian, I think," Kane replied. "They're a species from the N2S7 universe, that is, the home universe of the Dorei and the Gersallians. From what I know about them, they're a former client species of the Coserian Empire that once tried to conquer the Dorei. They're mostly clan or tribe based and tend to cause trouble in the Unaligned Worlds, raiding and slaving and pirating."  
  
"I guess we know where the Batarians are getting their technology," Shepard remarked.  
  
"Commander." Alenko looked up from the station he was analyzing with his omnitool. "I'm tapping into their communications now. You're not going to like this."  
  
"What?" Nisia asked.  
  
"They got a distress call out," he said. "Some message, I can't tell who it was sent to. The translator reads it as 'Begin now'."  
  
"Well," Shepard sighed, "isn't that ominous?"  
  
"Inform General Victus, and continue finding what you can."  
  
  
  
  
When Zack was informed by Victus of what the others had found so far, his only answer was "We'll send a warning out", after which he turned to Magda. Before he could speak the ship shook again. "Magda? Send a priority transmission on all Alliance and Citadel space channels, warn them of an imminent pirate attack of unknown scope against unknown targets."  
  
"I'm trying," she said. "But we're being jammed."  
  
"Send by IU radio then," he insisted. As he did so the ship shook again, and Zack's attention went back to the tactical plot holo beside him, showing him the two enemy ships that were continuing to pursue his ship while the _Koenig_ tried to evade the remaining weapons on the Batarian station.  
  
"Shields at fifty-four percent." After a moment Magda spoke again, and this time with a positive report. "IU radio signal sent."  
  
WIth that done, Zack could return his attention to keeping his ship intact.  
  
  
  
  
Robert's first inkling that something was up came when he noticed one of Tahrad's aides look toward his omnitool. The Batarian minister didn't pay his man heed at the moment, busy as he was griping about the Alliance's colonization of a garden world in one section of the Verge. "The planet Sahvad has been legally claimed by the Hegemony for the last hundred years," he insisted.  
  
"Again, Minister, it seems that our definition of valid claims remains incompatible with your own."  
  
"I will remind the minister that the CItadel Council rejected the wild extent of Batarian claims in the Verge decades ago," added Benezia.  
  
"Of course you did," Tahrad said. "The lack of respect for my people among the Citadel has long been chronicled. It is why we no longer accept the Council's decisions in the Hegemony."  
  
The aide finally seemed to get Tahrad's attention a moment later. As Tahrad conferred with him, examining what looked like a message, Onaram gave vent to only a little frustration with his reply. "The Allied Systems agreed to these talks as a gesture of good faith, Minister, and under the impression that the Batarian Hegemony was ready to consider reasonable solutions. But so far your entire position has remained inflexible and dogmatic. You demand the Alliance withdraw from over half of the systems it has colonized in this universe on the grounds of territorial claims with no reasonable justification beyond your government's declarations."  
  
Robert felt a surge of anger fill Tahrad. Anger, frustration, a sense that things had developed as they had to mock him. He stood from his seat and looked to Benezia. "Matriarch Benezia, an urgent message from Khar'shan demands my attention. I request a recess so that I can return to my ship."  
  
Benezia looked to Onaram. "Does the Alliance have any objections?"  
  
Onaram had surprise on his face at the request. Tahrad had never asked for any recess from the conference so far. "No objections, Matriarch," Onaram said. "I believe a recess will be of great benefit."  
  
"Then we shall recess until this evening." Benezia stood and nodded to them before stepping away from her table.  
  
The Batarians couldn't get away fast enough, from what Robert saw. Within seconds they were on their way to the door, and then out. "I wonder what has happened," Onaram said softly. "I can read the agitation in their body language."  
  
"I can sense it too. That message has Tahrad spooked. He's angry, and he's surprised." With a bad feeling growing inside, Robert keyed his omnitool. "Dale to Bridge. Can you tell me anything about a signal that just came to the Batarians a few minutes ago?"  
  
There was a short delay before Jarod's reply came. " _It was heavily encrypted and came over extranet communication protocols. I can't tell you where it came from or what was in it, not right now anyway."_ Before Robert could respond, Jarod continued. " _We just picked up a message over IU radio bands. It's from the_ Koenig _._ "  
  
"Really? What's in it?"  
  
" _Commander Carrey has issued a general warning to all Citadel, Systems Alliance, and UAS defense commands of an imminent attack by Batarian pirates against an unknown target, with unknown 'but likely strong' forces._ "  
  
That got Onaram's attention. And it certainly had Robert's. "How would he know that? Is this about that ship he stopped?"  
  
" _I can't tell you that_."  
  
Robert considered the situation. "They could be planning an attack anywhere. Against us, against the Systems Alliance… Jarod, get a hold of Commander Andreys. I want everything on standby for combat, as quickly and quietly as you can manage it."  
  
" _Will do_."  
  
Onaram's expression was grave. "Captain, you're not saying they intend to attack here, are you?"  
  
"I've got no idea what's going on," Robert admitted. "But I'm not taking any chances."  
  
  
  
  
Gunfire in the corridor on the left side of the command station was the first indication of the impending Batarian counterattack. Nisia nodded to Vidinos. "Take charge of a fire team and hold them off as long as you can." She looked next to Kane. "And I want another fire team holding the other exit."  
  
"Yes ma'am," Kane answered. He looked to the one Alliance Marine that had come over on the second wave, Popodoulos, and to Shepard. "Popodoulos, you're with me. Commander, do you mind joining me?"  
  
"Don't mind it at all. Jenkins, you're up."  
  
The other Systems Alliance trooper with them, an enthusiastic young SA Marine, jumped to it immediately. "Yes ma'am!" He ran up to join them at the exit door.  
  
"I don't have anyone on sensors coming this way yet," Popodoulos said to Kane. He kept his assault rifle at the ready, much to Kane's approval.  
  
"They'll come soon enough." Kane was remaining at the door for the moment. He looked back into the command chamber, where Nisia and Lidiks were overseeing the efforts to hack into the local system. "Any luck getting into their defensive systems?"  
  
"I've almost got it," Alenko insisted.  
  
"I'm more concerned about what else is on this station." Nisia looked at Lidiks. The STG regiment commander was operating another of the stations with his omnitool. "What have you found in their databases, Major?"  
  
"Correspondence with several known criminal organizations in the known Multiverse," Lidiks answered. "The Batarians have opened black market trading ties with the Orion Syndicate, who appear to be brokering their contacts with other organizations."  
  
"Make sure to get copies of all data, the Council will want to see it."  
  
"Of course."  
  
  
  
  
The _Koenig_ 's Main Engineering section was active as it would always be in a combat situation. Lieutenant Poniatowski was monitoring the reactors, Tali was still at the coolant controls, and Barnes was looking over everything. "Lang, I'm showing shock damage to the starboard impulsor," he was saying. "Your team is the closest."  
  
"Jawohl, _Lieutenant_ ," came the engineering mate's reply.  
  
Barnes re-directed his attention immediately to other issues. "Ana, I'm redirecting plasma flow to keep the phasers' power up."  
  
"Adjusting reactor rates."  
  
The ship shuddered under them again. Tali noticed a notification pop up on the station she was at. "I have stress damage showing on the starboard impulsor coolant line."  
  
Barnes looked over his team assignments. After he did he tapped a key. "Kreek, you and Ortiz need to get over to the starboard impulsor housing, reinforce the coolant line."  
  
" _Confirmed_ ", Kreek said.  
  
Barnes tapped a key at his station. "Engineering to Bridge. Whatever the frak is going on, I hope you're going to deal with it soon. I've got my entire damned staff tied up on repairs now."  
  
  
  
  
Zack overheard Barnes' complaint. He was simply too busy to reply to it. His thoughts were entirely focused on the tight maneuvers that were keeping the _Koenig_ intact from the enemies facing them.  
  
Sherlily's accurate fire had taken out several more turrets on the Batarian station's hull. But it was proving difficult for her to get a good shot at the two ships chasing them around. Apley had to keep the ship moving to avoid the volume of fire coming their way, keeping her from directing the full fury of the _Koenig_ 's weapons on her target. The latest attempt proved clearly futile, as only part of a burst played over yellow-hued shields before Apley had to bank hard to avoid a pair of plasma bolts coming their way. "I can't get a solid lock," she protested.  
  
"I'm doing what I can," was Apley's response.  
  
The ship shook again. "Shields now at forty-two percent." Magda looked up from her station. "We're going to start suffering shield cohesion loss soon."  
  
Zack heard her, but gave no response. His eyes remained on the icons showing their attackers, chasing them around the frame of the enemy station. His eyes narrowed as he saw one ship pull into another direction. "They're trying to get us into a crossfire."  
  
"I'll do what I can to keep us out of it."  
  
Zack began to nod but stopped. He imagined the maneuvers in his mind, what the Batarians were trying to do, what they were clearly capable of. A mental image appeared in his mind, one that proved the key to the outcome he desired. "Ap, break to starboard, raise the bow twenty degrees," he ordered.  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
They performed the maneuver. It brought the _Koenig_ right up along the lift structure connecting the base to the moon below. As Zack expected, the ship trailing them remained on them while the other ship was moving to catch them in a direct crossfire. His angle, toward the enemy base, gave the _Koenig_ the appearance of being interested in going after more of the turrets.  
  
Just as he wanted them to think. The enemy ships moved into position to catch the _Koenig_ in what would be a nasty three way crossfire.  
  
"Sir, they're moving to…"  
  
"I know, Ap. Steady on course… Initiate Attack Plan Oscar on my mark."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
The _Koenig_ kept her course up, weaving and spinning to avoid incoming fire, while the enemy ships moved to box her in between them and the station. The trap was nearly perfect.  
  
It would have been perfect if Zack hadn't wanted them to make it.  
  
"Mark!"  
  
At his call, Apley threw the _Koenig_ into a sharp maneuver few vessels had the power and maneuverability to pull off. She dipped back "down" relative to the base, impulsor drives pushing to the limit to shift her position relative to the two enemy ships.  
  
The enemy ships were already firing when Zack gave the order. The _Koenig's_ rapid maneuver thus had the benefit of getting them out of block of space the Batarian fire was moving into. Energy beams and missiles moved on…  
  
...and toward their opposite ship in the prepared trap.  
  
The two ships couldn't destroy each other in these barrages, of course, and they sought to evade the fire in the second they realized what happened.  
  
That bought Apley and Sherlily the moments they needed. Apley lined up the _Koenig_ on the ship that had been in front of them and Sherlily opened up with the _Koenig_ 's phaser cannons, joined by a full spread of torpedoes. The pulses of amber energy battered their way through the shields and began to send plumes of flame from the Batarian ship's hull. Then the torpedoes came in, four in all, with one missing due to the Batarian ship spinning just enough for it to fly on and smash into the hull of the Batarian station.  
  
The other three, however, had hit home. The Batarian ship suffered an internal explosion within a second of the torpedo strikes, then a second burst of radiation and energy from the ship's failing M/AM reactor. The ship was nearly vaporized in the blast.  
  
Apley turned the _Koenig_ toward their other competitor. It was now recovering from the friendly fire the _Koenig_ 's maneuver had caused and its pilot and crew were reacting to the _Koenig_ 's maneuver, not to mention the sudden fact they were alone. The Batarian ship, now the hunted, twisted away and began evasive maneuvers.  
  
But Apley stayed on them, as much as he could, even if it brought them dangerously close to the shield perimeter of the Batarian station. Sherlily fired away at the ship. Some shots missed, some didn't, and the yellow energy that appeared from those hits grew visibly weaker.  
  
They'd run out of time, or so it seemed, as the Batarian ship shifted to break away completely. They had figured out what the _Koenig_ was doing, that they were refusing to leave the shield perimeter, and the Batarian pirate captain recognized this gave their ship a mobility advantage. They could hit and run.  
  
Unfortunately for them, though, Sherlily was a really good shot.  
  
Just as the Batarian ship moved to break away, she fired another salvo of torpedoes and barrage from the cannons. Apley banked to avoid leaving the shield perimeter, turning around enough in the process so Sherlily could open up with the aft torpedoes.  
  
By the time the last two torpedoes were flying in, the first had already slammed into the weakened shields of the Batarian ship. One had gone clean through and slammed into the engine assembly in the rear. The ensuing explosion was joined by a clear slowing of the ship.  
  
Then the last two torpedoes hit and this ship, like those before it, was blown apart.  
  
It might have been a moment to celebrate. It wasn't however, as another plasma bolt slammed into the _Koenig_. Magda immediately reacted. "Shields down to thirty-five percent. We're getting bleedthrough damage."  
  
" _Koenig_ to strike team, it'd be nice if you got those defensive systems under control." Zack felt another jostle shake the deck.  
  
"Shields down to thirty percent. We have damage to the port warp nacelle, an active plasma leak. Safety systems are cutting off the warp plasma flow. Warp drive is offline."  
  
" _Engineering here. I'm on it_ ," Barnes said.  
  
"I'm losing power in the port impulsor engine," Apley said. "We're going to start taking hits."  
  
"Engineering…"  
  
  
  
  
Zack's open-ended remark wasn't lost on Barnes, who was already moving toward the exit to take on the warp nacelle repair himself. "Dammit," he groused. "Poniatowski, Tali, what's up with the engine?"  
  
"Coolant systems are still intact," Tali said. She glanced his way and on toward the MCD. "It looks like the housing took a stress crack from that last hit."  
  
"Dammit," Barnes said. "Okay, I'm going to get to the warp nacelle and do what I can do. Poniatowski…"  
  
"I'm not certified for engine repair," she reminded him. "I'm a reactor specialist."  
  
"Yeah, but I…"  
  
"I'll do it," Tali said. The two points of light in her helmet focused on him. "I've repaired sublight engines before. Your engines aren't that different from our own, mechanically speaking."  
  
Barnes' first inclination was to reject Tali's offer. But he stopped himself. He needed all the other repair teams where they were. "Alright," he said. "Just be careful. With the engines in operation, you can't go into the interior housing space. The vibrations can become lethal."  
  
The ship shook hard yet again. "I'll be careful," Tali promised.  
  
"Good luck, kid." Barnes turned and left. Tali was right behind him.  
  
  
  
  
The status updates from the _Koenig_ had Kane concerned. The ship was taking a battering, and they still didn't have control of the station defensive systems. He looked with concern to Shepard. "This Alenko kid, he can do this, right?"  
  
"His service record says he can," Shepard said. "I just met him, though, so I can't say if he's as good as some of your people."  
  
"Well, you can't put someone up against Jarod and have it be fair," Kane said. "But God, I wish we had him…"  
  
" _Our shields are down to twenty-eight percent_ ," Zack's voice warned over the comms. " _And we've sustained engine damage. We need those guns down_ now."  
  
"I'm almost through this," Alenko insisted.  
  
"Recommend we fight our way to the reactors," Lidiks said to Nisia. "That may give the _Koenig_ time to repair, if they survive that long."  
  
"And if they don't, it lets us take down this base…"  
  
Kane didn't hear Nisia's sentence end. Gunfire erupted in the hall he was responsible for. Popodoulos and Jenkins were pouring automatic fire down to the end of the corridor, where a T-shaped junction gave them the advantage of a chokepoint. Several armed Batarians went down, driving the rest of their comrades back to cover. Shepard concentrated and sent a pulsing wave of biotic power down the length of the corridor. Cries told them that her shockwave had caught at least a couple of Batarians.  
  
"Any time, Lieutenant," Nisia said firmly, but without hostility, to Alenko.  
  
"Just one layer of protections left… _there!_ " Alenko punched a key on the board in front of him. "I've just shut down their automated weapons."  
  
"Koenig _here. All fire has ceased and the station's shields are down. Thanks. We're preparing to beam more teams over to assist you_."  
  
"That may not be necessary." Alenko continued working. "I'm setting off counter-intrusion defenses. It's sealing every bulkhead in the station, cutting it off section by section. I can even distribute sedative gas throughout the station."  
  
"Do it," Nisia ordered. "Cut us off first."  
  
Alenko keyed the command. Kane looked back to the end of the corridor, where a solid bulkhead slid into place at the bottom of the T-junction.  
  
"Commander B'Rani." Lidiks looked over from his station. "I have discovered the purpose of the living area at the top of the base." He keyed something on his omnitool.  
  
The main holographic viewer of the command station activated to show a live camera feed. A feed depicting cells, and within the cells were figures. Figures in sometimes tattered clothing, looking weak and exhausted, and almost all were not Batarian.  
  
"Slaves," Nisia murmured.  
  
"I am cross-checking their records. Yes. It appears sentient-trafficking is among the black market trade the Batarians are engaging in."  
  
"Which species is that?" Alenko asked. "It looks like a… a cat-human?"  
  
"That's a Mi'qote," Kane said, having directed his attention to the screen. "N2S7."  
  
"I can confirm this," Lidiks said. "There are approximately four Orion males, three Caitians, four Mi'qotes, a dozen Humans, an Asari… Sixty beings in all used for labor in the mine. They appear to have been implanted with control devices."  
  
"Slaving bastards," Kane growled. "We need to get them out of here and blow this place to hell."  
  
"General Victus, Commander Carrey, did you get this?" Nisia asked. "If you send over teams, you should direct them to the cells first."  
  
" _We read you, Commander B'Rani_ ," Victus said. " _I will arrange for_ …"  
  
" _General, we're going to need to evac._ " Kane could hear tension in Zack's voice.  
  
And it didn't take a genius to figure out what would cause that. It was no surprise when Alenko brought up the sensor screen for the facility. "We've got a bogey coming in. And it's a big one."  
  
"It's always something, isn't it?" Shepard asked Kane.  
  
"Murphy loves to kick us just when we think we’ve won," he agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Koenig comes to the assistance of alien wanderers during training exercises with the Citadel races; Robert and his crew attempt to negotiate peace with the Batarian Hegemony.

Zack was looking at the same incoming contact on the holo-viewscreen. "Magda, how did we miss that?" he asked her.  
  
"For the same reason we nearly missed the base," she said. "The reason we would have missed it if I didn't have telemetry from its transmissions. This ice giant and the one we were over before both have abnormally strong EM fields. Combined with the mass shadows, it's hard to use sensors here. Both ways."  
  
"So we didn't see them, but they don't see us?"  
  
"Not yet." Magda was still working on her console. "ETA is four minutes at their current speed, Warp 7.5. Given the fluctuations in their warp field, I'd guess they're pushing their drive as fast as they can."  
  
"Even if they don't see us, they must know someone's here," Sherlily pointed out. "And we can't cloak."  
  
"And we have no warp power." Zack took only a moment to make his decision. He tapped the button on his chair. "Transporter Station, Commander B'Rani, we're going to beam the prisoners off and then your teams. B'Rani, can you relay exact coordinates to the transporters?"  
  
" _We are doing so now_."  
  
" _What about the station_?" Victus asked. " _We should destroy it while we have the chance._ "  
  
"As soon as we get our people back, we can beam over charges to their reactors," Zack answered.  
  
Magda turned her chair to look at him. "That's easier said than done. Unless we have people on the spot planting charges, we can't be sure we're taking their reactors down unless we use torpedoes."  
  
"Then that's what we'll use." Zack turned his chair partially and looked to Sherlily. "April, what's our torpedo loadout look like?"  
  
"We've still got twelve torpedoes plus the ones on standby in the launchers."  
  
Magda looked over the sensor data. "They've got ten distributed reactor housings. Although if we're using torpedoes, I'm going to recommend a distributed spread to key structural points. Knocking out reactors is one thing, but if we're doing this, we might as well just gut the station."  
  
"Sounds good to me," Zack said. "Status of transports?"  
  
"We've already beamed off two groups from the slave pens," Magda said. "Doctor Opani and her nurses are dealing with them now."  
  
" _I'm sending our medics to assist_ ," added Victus.  
  
From the other channel, Nisia spoke again. " _We are uploading all the data we can from this facility to your computers_. _The intelligence could be crucial_."  
  
"We're receiving," Magda confirmed. She checked her sensors. "And that ship is now ninety seconds out."  
  
Zack keyed the comms again. "Bridge to Barnes. Status on our warp drive?"  
  
" _I need another few minutes to finish sealing this break and to shift plasma back into the nacelle._ "  
  
"We're going to be facing a big, angry pirate cruiser in a minute, Tom. Tell me we have our impulse drives back to full."  
  
" _I've got someone on that, give me a moment_."  
  
  
  
Tali didn't hear that query from Zack. She was busy finishing her work on the exterior of the port impulsor drive housing. The drive was built in a position straddling the second and third deck, with Deck 3 being the main access to the impulsor housing area. The space was dominated by the gunmetal gray of the housing chamber. LCAR hardlight displays provided remote access to the systems from the safety of the exterior. Tali was familiar enough with sublight drives to know the interior wasn't so safe; as soon as the impulsors were kicked in, their operation would generate vibrations that would cause physical pain and eventual damage to anyone inside.  
  
This is why she made a frustrated noise and curse. She tapped her omnitool control and used it to access the _Koenig_ 's internal comms. Before she could call Barnes, his voice came from her tool. " _Barnes to Tali'Zorah_."  
  
"The crack is in the interior of the housing, I have to go in."  
  
" _You can't_ ," he said. " _We've got a hostile ship coming down on us in seconds. The helm will be using everything they can from the drive. The vibrations_ …"  
  
"You and I both know they'll need the drive at full capacity," she retorted. "Unless you've got the warp drive fixed?"  
  
" _We're still a few minutes from that_." After a moment he added, " _Alright, I'm on my way_."  
  
"You won't get here in time." Tali was already accessing the control for the access hatch with the fingers on her free hand. "I've got it."  
  
" _Tali, it's…_ "  
  
"It's what has to be done," she said, even as the access hatch opened. "You made me an engineer on this ship and assigned me to this repair. I'll get it done."  
  
His complaint was garbled, likely from frustration, while Tali climbed through the hatch into the interior of the housing. She was now in a space between the housing structure proper and the impulsor drive itself, with its fusion-driven electro-plasma propulsion. The space had been built specifically for this kind of repair and maintenance, but the nature of the technology meant it could only be safely accessed when the drives were disengaged.  
  
Tali tapped at her omnitool for a moment. She was carrying a personal kinetic barrier, standard for Quarians who were scouting for the fleet, and tweaked it to try and minimize the effects of the vibrations when they came. Then she turned her attention to the fault she'd scanned, a hairline crack that would keep the drive from operating at full capacity until it was mended. Tali detached the repair kit from her belt and began applying the patch within to the crack. Her omnitool whirred and sparked color as it attached said patch, sealing part of the crack off.  
  
That was when the vibrations hit.  
  
  
  
  
"Ten seconds." Magda read off the ETA of the cruiser. "Last transport off the station confirmed."  
  
"Beam over the torpedoes, _now_."  
  
Nobody on the _Koenig_ bridge could actually see the torpedoes being transported from the loading rooms for their launchers. The armory crew had armed them as ordered and set the remote detonation, backed by a timed charge of a minute to ensure they went off. As the seconds passed they rematerialized on the station.  
  
Zack, for a moment, considered that most of the Batarians on that station were unconscious. Helpless. He was, in a sense, executing them just as he had the crew of the ship they'd destroyed.  
  
But there was no time to entertain that thought. "Detonate when I give the order," he ordered Sherlily.  
  
"Last torpedo is in position now.."  
  
"Enemy ship coming out of warp."  
  
Apley already had the _Koenig_ coasting away under thruster power. Now he engaged the impulse drive as the Batarian cruiser they'd seen before came out off warp near the base. There was nearly no delay before they opened fire. Missiles and a steady barrage of yellow light and green energy bolts crossed the space toward the _Koenig_.  
  
Apley did what evading he could, and a number of shots missed. But with her sublight drives partly hobbled _Koenig_ couldn't evade them all. The ship began shuddering again. "Shields down to thirty percent," Magda said.  
  
"Apley, put the base between us and that cruiser, please," Zack said.  
  
"They're already moving to a parallel point, we won't have much cover."  
  
"It'll have to do. Sherlily, standby to detonate."  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
Zack watched as the fire coming at them slackened off as they came to the side of the station, as if assuming an orbit around the station and over the moon it was tethered too. Apley kept them moving while the cruiser kept coming at them, rounding the station. Zack kept his eyes on the holo-tacmap beside him. The moon dominated the view, his ship steadily slipping away from it and the enemy ship toward it. "Yeah," he murmured. "Slip between the moon and the station. Take the direct route so you can shoot at us. Sherlily, prepare to detonate..." Zack checked the display. "...torpedoes three, five, seven, nine, and ten."  
  
"If we detonate them separately, we might leave the station intact," Magda warned.  
  
"I figured that. But I've got my reasons. Steady…"  
  
  
  
Tali's trick with her kinetic barrier had worked, up to a point. But her head was starting to swim as the vibrations interfered with her equilibrium. _No_ , she thought. _I have to finish this!_ She focused her attention entirely on the second patch. Another second of work and it was finished. Only one small part of the crack remained.  
  
Her stomach was twisting, feeling nauseous and sick. Her body was wobbling. It took everything Tali had to push the third and final patch up and begin welding it into place.  
  
But she persisted. She had to.  
  
  
  
  
Half a deck away, Tom Barnes looked on in triumph as the final plasma seal was fitted. He immediately pulled his omnitool back and grabbed the access ladder with one hand, then the other. It took him a second to lift himself out of the plasma feed line that had been damaged by the earlier hits. Once he had the patch secure, he looked to the crewwoman nearby. "Rosenbaum, hit it!"  
  
The young woman nodded and pressed the appropriate key. "Plasma feed engaged. The nacelle is being re-energized." Her accent was distinctly New Yorker, with a touch of Yiddish in it. "The estimate before full restoration of power is three minutes."  
  
"Right." Barnes immediately turned and began to run. "Keep an eye on it and call me or Engineering if anything happens!"  
  
"Sir?" Rosenbaum looked his way with confusion. "Where are you going?"  
  
"To save Tali!" he cried back as he disappeared from the chamber.  
  
  
  
On the bridge Zack watched his monitor carefully. He paid no heed to the activities of the others, or even to the arrival of Victus and the strike team commanders to the bridge. "Standby," he said again.  
  
"They're acquiring again, our respective angles are exposing their bow weapons to us." A moment later the ship shook from another impact. "Shields now at twenty-four percent. We're losing cohesion."  
  
"Standby." Zack kept an eye. The angle was so close, but it wasn't just right. Closer… closer…  
  
As the ship shook again, even before Magda updated the shield effectiveness level to twenty-two percent, Zack saw just what he wanted. Or as close to it as he was likely to get. "Mark!" he called out.  
  
Sherlily's finger stabbed at a key on her board.  
  
Five explosions gutted parts of the Batarian station. Four explosions were in the side facing the _Koenig_. One was at the base of the station.  
  
The last explosion had its intended effect. It not only wrecked the lift that connected the station to the moon, it literally broke the tether from the main body of the station, freeing it from its connection to the moon below. Freeing it to be driven by its own velocity.  
  
Velocity that the other explosions had now changed.  
  
Zack watched with satisfaction as the Batarian station, or rather what was left of it, began to fly right at the enemy cruiser.  
  
"It's not going to make impact," Apley predicted. "They've got too much space left, too much time…"  
  
Zack nodded wordlessly while watching the result. The enemy cruiser began an emergency maneuver to lift itself, in relation to the moon, and avoid the station. The space was small. For a brief moment he thought maybe they'd fail, maybe the station would actually hit, but it was certain it wouldn't after another moment passed.  
  
"It's not going to hit," Victus said.  
  
"It wasn't supposed to," Zack replied. "April, on my mark, detonate the remaining torpedoes."  
  
"Ready, sir," she answered immediately, while Zack watched the station and enemy ship move much as he hoped they would.  
  
  
  
  
Tali thought she would throw up in her suit. Her stomach was twisted into a knot. Her head was spinning from vicious vertigo that made it nearly impossible to focus. She was fighting to keep her omnitool on point, welding the final patch into place.  
  
_Almost there… almost_ …  
  
She almost missed that she was done. Tali's omnitool confirmed the patch was fully in place. Her work was done. She began to walk back toward the access hatch.  
  
Or rather, she tried to. It became more of a stumble. After a couple of steps she fell down. Unable to stand again, she began crawling toward it.  
  
But the vibrations were growing worse. Tali couldn't concentrate, she couldn't focus.  
  
Her crawling slowed to a stop, barely a meter from the hatch.  
  
  
  
  
On the bridge, Zack's cry of "Mark!" filled the air.  
  
Again Sherlily's finger hit the detonation key. Again, naqia-enhanced explosives blew apart the enemy station.  
  
It wasn't just those explosives of course. They were placed to cause maximum damage to the Batarian station, and that included the fuel bunkers and reactors that generated the plasma used in the station's weapons and power systems. Violently freed from their confines, some of this material added to the carnage. Things that could go boom did, in fact, go boom. One of the reactors even went up, its safety control regulators undone by the blast of a nearby torpedo.  
  
And the explosion happened only meters from the Batarian cruiser.  
  
The cruiser had decent shields, at least in raw power. But they had other flaws, and the proximity of detonations, the amount of raw energy released by the torpedoes and the concurrent secondary explosions, undermined the cruiser's shields. They failed to stop all of the force directed by the destruction of the station, with visible results from debris and energy striking and damaging their hull. Energy erupted from the cruiser's port nacelle when a large chunk of debris struck it.  
  
"The enemy cruiser's shields have failed. I'm detecting multiple hull breaches. Their port nacelle has been wrecked completely." Magda continued looking over the readings her sensors could find now that the energy of the blasts was dissipating. "It looks like they might have power failures too."  
  
"Ap, get us out of here, best sublight speed. Go to warp the moment we've got warp power restored."  
  
"Aye sir," Apley responded. "I've got full impulse power back, taking us out."  
  
The _Koenig_ turned away from the broken remnants of the space station and the damaged pirate cruiser.  
  
  
  
  
Tali groaned in pain and tried to move. She could see the hatch, roughly, but the world kept spinning. Her head felt like it would roll from her shoulders. She couldn't move.  
  
She thought about what it would be like to give up. To just lay here and let it go. But as the thought came to her, another thought joined it. The thought of her father's disappointment in her. She hadn't even gone on Pilgrimage yet, how could she just lay down and die? Die without doing something for her people?  
  
She couldn't.  
  
Tali tried to move again. For a moment, it felt like she couldn't.  
  
Then the hatch flew open. She watched Barnes climb in partially. He reached out to her. "Take my hand!"  
  
She reached out, her hand seeking his while the world seemed to spin around them. But it wasn't enough, just wasn't enough…  
  
_Just a bit more_.  
  
They clasped hands. Tali scrambled to help Barnes move her weight, but it was mostly his effort that pulled her from the drive housing. Once they were out Barnes slammed a button and the hatch automatically shut.  
  
Tali's head was still spinning even as the vibrations ceased. "Keep it steady," she heard Barnes say. "It's no fun dealing with that. If your inner ears work like ours do, it's going to take a bit for your balance to get back to normal. Just sit here and give it a moment…"  
  
"Thank you," Tali muttered. "I don't think I could have gotten out on my own."  
  
"I know." He held her steady against the wall. "Just relax."  
  
After another several seconds Tali felt her head start to clear. She wasn't as queasy. She turned her head to face Barnes. "It worked?"  
  
"Yeah. They're burning away at full impulse. Any minute the plasma in the nacelle should be back to normal and we'll be warping away." Barnes remained quiet for a moment. "I'd like to say I'm sorry. Again."  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Because I didn't treat you like you deserved. Pilgrimage or no, you're an engineer, and a damned good one. You saved this ship."  
  
"I think we all did." Despite saying that, Tali couldn't quite hide her appreciation of his apology and recognition of her capabilities. "My father thinks I still have much to learn."  
  
"Hell, don't we all." Barnes chuckled. He extended a hand. "Thanks again, Tali."  
  
"And to you, Lieutenant."  
  
"No need to be formal." Barnes was grinning at her. "My name's Tom."  
  
"Tom," she said, and if not for her face plate, Barnes would have seen her smile.  
  
  
  
  
Zack wasn't satisfied until he felt the deck thrum ever so slightly, meaning his over-engined little gut-puncher of a starship was jumping to warp speed. A moment later Apley confirmed this by saying, "We're now at Warp 5.9, on course for the nearest relay."  
  
"So we did it," Zack sighed. "We pulled it off." After a moment he grinned. "Great job, everyone. That was nothing short of a Grand Slam."  
  
"And that would be?" asked Nisia.  
  
"Hitting a home run with bases loaded," he clarified. Turning and seeing the Asari Commando was still uncertain, he added, "It's from baseball. A Human sport."  
  
"Ah. I see."  
  
"Do we have anything more from that data we took?" Zack asked.  
  
"I've got Alenko looking over it down in the conference room," Shepard said. She was grinning. "It's about the only place on the ship that's not standing room only right now."  
  
"Magda, why don't you join him?" Zack said. "Technical Officer Walden can take over."  
  
"Yes sir," Magda said. She started to stand.  
  
"I wish to look through the data myself," Lidiks remarked. "It has the potential to…-"  
  
Before he could finish, a comm tone indicated someone was hailing the bridge. " _Alenko to Bridge_."  
  
Zack nodded to Shepard, indicating she should respond. She nodded back and said, "Go ahead, Lieutenant."  
  
" _I've found data on what the pirates are up to. It explains why so many of their ships are gone from the area, and it's not good news_."  
  
"They're about to launch an attack, I'm betting," Zack said. "What's their target? Elysium? Mindoir? Adrana? New Circassia?"  
  
" _It's not a planet. They're after a ship. Your ship._ "  
  
Zack almost asked what he meant, but he put it together as his mouth opened and felt a wave of horror. "You mean they're…"  
  
" _They're going after the_ Aurora," Alenko said.  
  
"Get that out on IU comms, subspace, anything. _Now_ ," Zack demanded. He felt his heart pound.  
  
The pirates were after his friends. And there was no way he could get there in time to help.  
  
All he could do was hope that the warnings he had already sent had them ready for a fight.  
  
  
  
  
Robert found Julia and the rest of the senior officers on the bridge when he arrived with Onaram. "Anything new?" he asked.  
  
"Still no signal from the Batarian dreadnought about if Minister am Rimhar is coming back over," Julia said. She changed seats to give Robert his command seat. Onaram took the VIP seat beside him.  
  
"That is highly suspicious," Onaram said. "Get me Matriarch Benezia, please."  
  
Robert nodded to Jarod. He keyed the ship-to-ship communications and moments later Benezia appeared on the holo-viewscreen. "Madame Matriarch, something suspicious is going on with the Batarian delegation," Onaram said, his tone stoic and succinct. "And you should have received an update by now on the signal on an unknown pirate attack. These may be related."  
  
" _My security advisor agrees. It is clear that the Hegemony is not negotiating with the Alliance in good faith. For that purpose, we are intending to return to Council Space._ "  
  
"I would feel better if you let us escort you, Madame Matriarch," Robert said. "As I recall the relay network, this relay will not take you back in one hop. You'll still be in the Traverse, and vulnerable, if you go through."  
  
Benezia considered that for a moment before nodding and smiling. " _Very well_ ," she said. " _I formally request that you escort us back through the relay_."  
  
"We'll be going through the relay shortly. Dale out." Robert said nothing more, prompting Jarod to cut the line. He couldn't keep a frown from forming on his face.  
  
Julia noticed it. "What's wrong?"  
  
"There's just something off about this whole situation," Robert said. "Like there's something more than just…"  
  
He was interrupted by Caterina, currently at her station. "I'm picking up a subspace spike from the Mass Relay. Something's coming through."  
  
"Code Red," Robert said immediately. He wasn't taking chances. "On screen."  
  
The screen shifted to show the nearby Mass Relay. Vessels began to appear around it. Brown and red in coloring, and a unique set of designs that were nevertheless familiar enough that an identification was quickly made by Jarod. "They're matching Batarian profiles, but with several changes."  
  
"Yeah, the power signatures are entirely different," Cat added from her station. "They're raising shields, and I'm detecting what looks like energy weapons."  
  
Jarod quickly checked something. "And it's all consistent with what the _Koenig_ signaled."  
  
"I don't suppose we should hail them?" Julia asked.  
  
Even as she said so, the viewscreen showed the Batarian dreadnought that brought their negotiating team suddenly zip away. "They've gone to FTL."  
  
"They don't want to be present for the fight. Plausible deniability." Robert was frowning. "This whole negotiation was a setup."  
  
"It looks like they're launching breaching pods," Angel warned.  
  
"They don't look like that much of a threat," Julia said. "They have to know we can still beat…"  
  
Before she finished the sentence the lights on the bridge all died. "We've just lost main power," Jarod said.  
  
"Weapons and shields aren't responding," Angel added.  
  
Locarno was working on his station, to no avail. "I've got no helm control."  
  
"Sabotage," Julia said. "They must have snuck something on board. Security missed something."  
  
"It looks like several sophisticated AI programs were loaded into our control systems, they've locked us out." A light appeared on Jarod's board. "Incoming hail."  
  
A guttural voice sounded over the speakers. "Aurora _crew, we have come to claim your vessel. If you surrender peacefully, you will be allowed to abandon your vessel and your escape craft will not be harmed. Resist our forces and we will make slaves of any who survive._ "  
  
"If Batarians had a mustache, I bet he would be twirling it," Robert muttered. He tapped the key on his chair to reply, "Not happening. Come anywhere near my ship and we're blowing you right to hell."  
  
After a moment the reply was, " _Remember that we were going to be merciful_."  
  
"The breaching pods are moving forward." Jarod shook his head. "There's a lot for a force of ships that size."  
  
"With what sensors we've still got, it looks like there's at least five hundred boarders," Cat said. "I can't make out some of the life signs though."  
  
"Alert Security and our remaining Marines to standby to resist boarding parties." Robert looked quietly to Jarod. "Anything else?"  
  
"Definitely a control lockout," Jarod said.  
  
" _Scott t' Bridge. Everything's as bad as you can expect down here._ "  
  
"Right." Robert looked back to the viewer. Backup power ensured it would remain on even with main power locked out. The breaching pods were nearly to them. "Jarod… _now_."  
  
"Infected computer cores isolated," Jarod said. "Re-initializing systems from backups."  
  
Within moments the main bridge lights turned back on. "Restoring shields and readying weapons," Angel said.  
  
It was clear on the screen that the Batarians hadn't seen that coming. The closest breaching pods were so far ahead, in fact, that they had no chance to avoid slamming right into the now-restored shields. Flickers of blue illuminated the shield perimeter of the _Aurora_ where the pods smashed against the shields. And the pods lost. The lead ones were crushed completely by their own velocity's reactive force to being suddenly stopped by the deflectors. Those pods further back that couldn't turn in time weren't crushed, but were certainly damaged, while the pods behind them did evade in time.  
  
Not that it did them any good. Angel opened up with the _Aurora_ 's bow weapons. Her targets were the ships they had launched from, but any pod in the way was destroyed, even outright vaporized, by the powerful bursts of amber and sapphire light from the bow-facing cannons and pulse cannon emplacements.  
  
The _Aurora_ bridge crew watched one of the enemy destroyers blow apart under the barrage of the main weapons. Solar torpedoes and more phaser fire drained the shields from one of the cruiser-sized enemy ships. A second burst of fire from the pulse plasma cannons finished the cruiser's shields off and tore the vessel's bow off.  
  
"The fighters are launching," Julia said, and the tactical screen reflected that, as several dozen starfighters came from the launch tubes built into the drive hull. The Mongoose-model starfighters turned and burned toward the remaining breaching pods, who were helpless against them. While four of the fighters broke off to finish the pods off, the others pushed on toward the enemy ships.  
  
Enemy fire was coming against them now, thick and heavy, and the _Aurora_ 's shields endured it. "Shields down to ninety-one percent," Jarod said. "Reinforcing forward shields."  
  
Angel, meanwhile, continued to focus on the damaged cruiser, turning it into a broken hulk with another barrage. A second cruiser coming up toward their port side gained her attention next, with multiple beams and bursts of phaser fire draining its shields down. The bow weapons fired again, the sapphire bolts of the pulse plasma cannons tearing apart one of the lighter pirate ships despite its shields being at full. Two spreads of solar torpedoes found the third cruiser-sized ship and pummelled the shields down enough that phaser beams started cutting into its hull.  
  
The Mongoose fighters finished closing the distance, and a storm of missiles and torpedoes struck at the small and big ships respectively. The third cruiser lost a warp nacelle to Commander Laurent's fighters while the second cruiser, still on the _Aurora_ 's port side, had its hull opened up by a fierce barrage from the phaser emplacements.  
  
Robert watched this. They were still outnumbered twelve to one, even with the losses they'd inflicted on the enemy, and that was always worrying. But when the Batarians began to react with organization, it wasn't to focus or coordinate their attacks. They started breaking away in formation. One by one, they jumped to warp speed.  
  
"They're moving away from us at Warp 5," Jarod said. He turned in his chair. "We could intercept them if we wanted."  
  
Robert thought of that. But he shook his head. "There's still enough of them in numbers to worry me," he said. "So I'm letting them go. Julia, recall fighters, at least all but a flight. We're going to send them through the Relay first to see if there's an ambush waiting for us. As soon as they confirm we're clear, we're heading back."  
  
"While our fighters confirm it's safe, I'll have transporters beam aboard any Batarian survivors," Julia said. "And some samples from their ships."  
  
"In the meantime, I'm going to get to work with Security," Jarod added. "That cyber-attack was a lot more effective than it should have been. If we hadn't been ready, it really would have crippled us for hours."  
  
"Jupap, please assume Ops." Robert nodded to Jarod as he stood to give his station over to the Alakin lieutenant, currently moving in from the Communications station on the starboard wall of the bridge. He looked to Jarod and said, "Report whatever you find immediately, please."  
  
Jarod gave him a nod as an answer before walking to the lift.  
  
  
  
  
_Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 14 August 2642. Captain Robert Dale recording. The_ Koenig _has rendezvoused with us at the Richards-Phi Relay at the edge of the Skyllian Verge. I'm relieved to learn that Commander Carrey and his crew came out of their unexpected operation with no major casualties. The sixty plus people they rescued from Batarian slavery are having the slave control hardware removed surgically by Doctor Gillam and his staff. It will take time for them to recover from their ordeal, though. Seeing them reminds me of the evil that slavery represents, and why we have fought so long and hard to suppress that evil.  
  
Matriarch Benezia departed as soon as we arrived in the Verge. She has already informed the Citadel of the Batarian plot. I've yet to learn what the Hegemony's response is.  
  
There are still unanswered questions. Jarod has yet to find the device or method used to attempt the takeover of our computers. Until we know what's happened, I can't rest easy._  
  
  
  
  
A chirp at his ready office's door caused Robert to lift his head. "Come in," he said.  
  
When Zack entered, he was accompanied by General Victus. He handed Robert a digital pad. "My final report on our operation," he said. "For your review."  
  
"Thank you." Robert smiled and nodded, accepting the digital reader and setting it on his desk. "I'm looking forward to reading it. From what I've already heard, you did something amazing."  
  
"My crew did, they made it all possible," Zack said. He looked to Victus. "As did our special forces teams. We wouldn't have gotten that data if not for them."  
  
Robert nodded and turned his attention to Victus. "General, it's good to see you again."  
  
"The same, Captain. I would like to add my own report to your Defense Command." Victus handed a second digital pad over, loaded with a report in Turian script. "I have already informed Palaven and the Citadel Council of what occurred, but I wanted to give that to you personally for delivery to Admiral Maran."  
  
"I'll see he gets it."  
  
"And I will see that Commander Carrey and his crew get the commendation they deserve for their conduct," Victus added. "From both your Alliance and the Hierarchy."  
  
"Thank you, General," Zack said to Victus.  
  
"I'll have an officer show you to your quarters, sir," Robert added. "We're scheduled to meet up with the _Milesar_ after our next relay jump."  
  
"Thank you, Captain."  
  
After Robert saw to that and Victus left, he looked back to Zack. "Well, it looks like you had a more eventful training mission than was planned."  
  
"Yeah. And it looks like your diplomatic summit didn't go anywhere." Zack stood from his chair. "I'm just glad you're okay."  
  
"I could tell something was up with the Batarians," Robert said. "Once we got your warning about an attack somewhere, I decided we should be ready. Jarod had the idea of preparing isolated control system backups in case they got into our systems." He frowned. "I'm a little concerned with just how effective that was, though."  
  
"Yeah. The Batarians had a lot of new tech, but nothing like that."  
  
Robert looked down at the digital reader on his desk with Zack's final report. He picked it up and looked to Zack. "Well, since you're back here and I'm sure you're up for some real food, how about you tell me all about it in the Lookout?"  
  
"Sure." Zack nodded.  
  
  
  
  
Julia was already in the Lookout having a meal. "So the Batarians have been buying up new tech." Lucy was speaking from across the table. She put her spoon into a bowl of steaming sausage stew. "It's going to make our jobs harder." She took a bite after speaking.  
  
Julia nodded. "Especially with the peace overture being fake."  
  
Lucy finished swallowing so she could reply, "I wonder how the Hegemony's going to get away with this one."  
  
"I'm sure Minister am Rimhar will have some excuse. Or they'll throw him under the bus as a 'renegade'." Julia sighed. "It's probably for the best anyway. Fighting both the Batarians and the Nazis would be a stretch."  
  
"Yeah. Slaving bastards that they are."  
  
They both took bites from their respective bowls and were still chewing when a third figure came up. "Are any of these seats taken?" asked Commander Shepard.  
  
Julia shook her head. After swallowing she said, "Feel free."  
  
Shepard nodded and sat with a tray carrying the day's lunch/early dinner items; corned beef, potatoes, steamed asparagus, and Hargert's much-beloved sausage stew. "I couldn't visit the _Aurora_ and not treat myself to a meal," Shepard explained.  
  
"Your ride should be waiting when we go through the next relay," Julia remarked.  
  
"I know. That's why I'm enjoying this now." Shepard grinned before taking another bite. "This is so unfair," she said once she swallowed. "We don't get anything like this."  
  
"Well, there can only be one Hargert," Lucy remarked.  
  
"So, how has everyone been?"  
  
"Well, we've had some things happen. A few things have happened," Julia said.  
  
"Cat's a lesbian and has a girlfriend now, Jarod got kidnapped and Julia rescued him with a bunch of mercenaries or something, Rob and Angel broke up, Meridina quit the Order because they're a bunch of pricks, and I had to fight for my life with a three thousand year old laser sword," Lucy said in rapid order. "I think that about covers it."  
  
"You forgot Robert having a fight to the death with an eight foot tall genetically-engineered hulk-man," Julia corrected. She frowned. "And Fassbinder being alive."  
  
"Fassbinder." Shepard's brow furrowed. "Wait, you mean that SS commander I shot through a window?"  
  
"That's the one," Lucy said. "He's still alive."  
  
"Damn." Shepard shook her head.  
  
"Oh, and one last bit." Lucy smirked mischievously and nodded her head at Julia. "Julia's been offered a promotion and a ship of her own. Maran wants to make her Captain of the new _Enterprise_ , a ship based off the _Aurora_."  
  
Julia blushed slightly. Shepard looked to her and grinned. "Well, congratulations," she said. "Tell me you said yes."  
  
"I haven't completely confirmed it yet," Julia answered, giving Lucy a dirty look. Lucy, being Lucy, responded by sticking her tongue out.  
  
"Well, with the influences of the other species in your Alliance, maybe it's different for you, but for us, the military is very much 'up or out'," Shepard said. "Someone who doesn't accept promotions stops getting the offers, and eventually they get retired to make room for younger personnel at their rank."  
  
"I've heard of that," Julia said. "I think the Alakins and some of the Dorei are like that too. But the Gersallians are big on merit. There's no shame in refusing a promotion you don't think you're ready for, and there's nothing wrong with someone relatively young getting higher ranks if they've proven they can hold them."  
  
"The Turians are supposed to be like that, and the onus of a bad promotion lies on the one giving the promotion, not the one who got it."  
  
"I guess I can see that." Julia set her spoon down. Her face reflected the struggle in her thoughts. "I want to be a captain," she said. "And I want the _Enterprise_. But I'm worried about what it'll do to this crew."  
  
"Fair enough," Shepard said.  
  
"And what about you?" Lucy asked. "I figured you'd be off commanding special forces at the front or something, blasting Nazis with biotics."  
  
Shepard smirked at that. "Oh, that was possible for a while. And I did a few operations with Citadel forces in S4W8. But I'll be going back to Earth soon. Captain Anderson's asked me to be his XO on his new ship."  
  
"Oh? So he's getting a new cruiser?" asked Julia.  
  
"No. Apparently it's some new experimental frigate we designed with the Turians. And with some new technology from your people as well." Shepard took a drink. "They're naming her the _Normandy_."  
  
"And you're going to be his XO? Congratulations."  
  
"I'm still not sure I want a command like that," Shepard said. "I'm a Marine, not a ship commander. But if that's where they need me, that's where I'll go."  
  
"And we wish you the best of luck, Commander Shepard," Julia said.  
  
  
  
  
It was late in the day when Robert returned to his ready office for a last check of the day's paperwork and reports. They had already offloaded Victus, Shepard, and the others - including the recovered captives - to the Turian heavy cruiser _Milesar_ and were soon to make their last rendezvous before leaving M4P2.  
  
A tone caused Robert to look to his screen. The computer had finally finished his search request. He opened the results and stared.  
  
The Turian that had been with Matriarch Benezia had caused Robert's feelings to become uneasy. Not just from his open disdain for Humans, but… there was something to him, a darkness Robert couldn't place. And something familiar about his face, his eyes…  
  
But what really got Robert's attention was the attached data with the file.  
  
The door chime went off. Robert looked up and said "Come in".  
  
Julia entered. "I just wanted to let you know we're almost there. Nick says we'll be dropping out of warp in a couple of minutes." She noticed the look on his face. "What is it?"  
  
"Just… something. An itch in my mind about that Turian with Benezia."  
  
"The jerk?" Julia crossed her arms. "What about him? He never gave his name."  
  
"I'm not surprised." Robert turned the screen around on his desk to face Julia. She leaned over and read it. "Not now," he added.  
  
"Holy Christ," Julia gasped. "He's a freaking _Spectre_?"  
  
"Saren Arterius," Robert said, remembering the name on the screen. "One of the longest serving Spectres still in active service."  
  
"What is a Citadel Council black ops agent doing babysitting an Asari Matriarch?" Julia asked. "That sounds like overkill."  
  
"Who knows?" Robert's expression darkened. "There's no telling what he's up to. The Citadel gives them complete freedom on what they do so long as they get results in accomplishing their missions. That is, they can do anything they want. They can kill, steal, manipulate, intimidate, even terrorize, if it accomplishes their mission."  
  
Julia frowned at that. "So much for the Citadel's rhetoric about interstellar law. We may have been stateless, but we had lines we never crossed."  
  
"Yeah…" Robert shut the screen off. "I can't help but feel I've seen Saren Arterius before, though. That's what has me so weirded out about…"  
  
Before he could finish the thought, Jupap's voice chirped over the comm line. " _Captain, we've dropped out of warp.. They're opening a channel._ "  
  
"Pipe it in here," Robert ordered. His screen activated to show his caller. "This is Captain Dale, _Starship Aurora_."  
  
" _I have heard of you_ ," was the response, in an accent of some sort. " _I am Admiral Rael'Zorah vas_ Rayya _. I've come to pick up my daughter from your ship_."  
  
  
  
  
**Tag**  
  
  
Barnes and Zack accompanied Tali to the Briefing Room where Robert, Julia, and Secretary Onaram were meeting with three of the Quarian admirals. Once she stepped in, Tali was quick to call out, "Father!" and then "Auntie Raan!"  
  
Shala'Raan vas _Tonbay_ walked up and embraced her. "Ah, it is good to see you are okay, Tali. When we lost contact with your ship, I feared the worst. How is Kon'Fanim?"  
  
"Their physicians have stabilized his infection. He woke up last night and already wants to go home."  
  
"Admirals, this is Commander Zachary Carrey and Lieutenant Thomas Barnes, they are the Commanding Officer and Chief Engineer of the _Koenig_ ," Robert said. "Commander, Lieutenant, these are Admirals Shala'Raan, Rael'Zorah, and Daro'Xen, of the Quarian Admiralty Board."  
  
"You are the ones who rescued Tali." Rael approached Zack and Barnes. "You have my thanks. I hope she was of service to you during her time on your ship."  
  
"Oh, she certainly was," Barnes said. "We might have failed if she hadn't been there." He grinned at her. "Tali's a hell of an engineer."  
  
"I'm pleased to hear this."  
  
Zack was already walking over to take a seat by Robert. "They didn't need three admirals to pick Tali up, did they?"  
  
"No, they didn't." Robert looked to Onaram.  
  
The Dorei nodded in reply. "In light of what has happened, President Morgan has decided it is time to initiate a dialogue with the Quarian Migrant Fleet."  
  
"And we are pleased to reciprocate," Raan answered.  
  
"Hopefully we can find your people a new homeworld," Robert said. "Either in this universe or in others."  
  
"I appreciate the offer in the spirit in which it is given, Captain, and I understand some of my colleagues may take you up on it." Rael faced Robert now, his faceplate obscuring his face save for two glowing eyes. Robert wondered if their eyes naturally glowed like that or if it was some effect of the face plate. "But I would rather return to Rannoch, if at all possible."  
  
"I understand," was all Robert could say to that.  
  
"This will be a discussion for the entire Fleet. But the other matters you have referred to, Secretary Onaram, are of interest to the Admiralty Board." Rael turned to face Onaram. Tali stepped back from him as if she expected that her father had greeted her and now she was no longer of importance to the moment. Robert thought he could sense a tinge of pain from the young Quarian at how quickly her father was dismissing her. Rael seemed oblivious of any of this as he continued speaking. "The offer of sanctuary in Alliance space and mutual assistance will be brought up for consideration immediately."  
  
"Won't the Citadel Council get upset if we sign a deal with the Quarians without informing them of it?" Julia asked Onaram.  
  
"We will obviously keep them informed, in the spirit of our treaty with them," Onaram replied. "But the restrictions on bilateral agreements stipulate only recognized governments and the Terminus Systems. The Quarians fall under neither stipulation for the moment, as the Citadel Council no longer recognizes any Quarian state."  
  
Zack grinned with amusement. "In other words, you're using their own dislike of the Quarians against them."  
  
"A byproduct of the situation, nothing more," insisted Onaram. "Now, as for other particulars…"  
  
Robert's omnitool flashed to life in part, a bright light appearing over his forearm and signifying an incoming call. " _Jarod to Dale_."  
  
Robert tapped the light, opening the channel. "Dale here."  
  
" _I apologize for interrupting, but Commander Meridina and I have found something. We think it may be the device the Batarians used to sabotage the ship. We're analyzing it in Science Lab 2. I can transmit an image if you'd like to see it._ "  
  
"I admit to curiosity, Captain," Onaram said.  
  
"As do I." Admiral Daro'Xen was finally speaking. "If this technology could breach your computer security, it implies a grave security threat to our own computer systems."  
  
"Jarod, relay the device and the data you've gathered so far to the Briefing Room displays."  
  
" _Doing so now._ "  
  
A moment later the image appeared over the table; a gray, circular device with coiled wires that gave the dead device the look of a bug. The wires, and part of the body, were charred, no doubt a result of a self-immolation security measure.  
  
"Woh, I've never seen anything like that," Barnes said.  
  
As Robert felt the surprise fill the room, he heard Shala'Raan's disbelieving tone when she said, " _Keelah_. Is it actually…?"  
  
"Admiral?" Julia turned from the image. "Do you recognize this?"  
  
"We all do. We all should, at least," said Daro'Xen.  
  
"Why?" asked Zack.  
  
"Because, Commander, it is technology that originated from our people," Daro'Xen answered. "Centuries ago."  
  
"Originated?" Robert put two and two together.  
  
"It is Geth technology," Rael'Zorah stated. "Your ship was sabotaged with a Geth device."  
  
Robert and the others shared an uncomfortable look. Onaram stared at the image another moment before he looked to the Quarian admirals. "I was under the impression that the Geth remained isolated behind the Perseus Veil."  
  
"They generally do. Occasionally they depart it to scout, and it is on those occasions that their technology can be recovered by our scouts," Shala'Raan explained. "But we've never recovered something like this. This was intentionally built as a device to sabotage computer systems."  
  
"So you don't have an idea how the Batarians got something like this?" Robert asked them.  
  
"None, Captain," Rael'Zorah replied. "None at all."  
  
  
  
  
Tahrad am Rimhar was not having a good day. His dreadnought was back at the mass relay, where the broken remains of the privateer fleet that was supposed to take over the _Aurora_ and its crew were all that was left. On his screens the messages demonstrated the extent of their failure. Their main base was compromised, its orbital station destroyed, their slave labor stolen. Multiple ships destroyed or lost. The _Aurora_ escaped, depriving the Hegemony of the chance to dismantle the vessel, interrogate its crew, and discover its technological secrets for the benefit of Khar'shan. Now their silent partners in the other universes were hinting that they were going to cut their ties to the Hegemony. Worst of all, it would be impossible for the Hegemony to hide his involvement, so he was likely to be outlawed and declared a rogue to provide deniability.  
  
He stood at the rear of said dreadnought, ignoring its captain and command crew, and looked at the viewscreens. One showed the vessel that had rendezvoused with them; the other the occupants of said ship. His silent partners.  
  
"You were supposed to cripple them, and you failed," Tahrad charged. "Do not blame this on me."  
  
" _It is obvious they were warned_." On the other screen, Saren Arterius remained unflinching. Matriarch Benezia sat beside him, quiet, as if she had no input in this conversation. Tahrad wondered just how Saren had secured her support, much less her obvious acquiescence to his control. " _Your forces led the_ Koenig _right to your main facility. And your ships were supposed to ambush them on the other side of the relay._ "  
  
"The operation was compromised by the _Koenig_ 's raid," Tahrad protested. "My people had to either attack or abort. Aborting would mean everything was wasted. We relied upon you to make sure the attack was successful, and you failed us! Now I am ruined!" Tahrad's rage built as he dwelled on that. "This alliance was a mistake! I should have had you shot while I had the chance, Arterius! And now…" He looked to the officers. "Target the yacht. Destroy them."  
  
Immediately it was clear something was wrong. Tahrad should have frightened Saren entirely. His yacht couldn't escape, couldn't run, and a single hit, maybe two, would leave it crippled. He lived entirely at Tahrad's sufferance. But there was no sign of it. His ice-toned eyes reflected no fear. As if he were the one who had Tahrad at his mercy.  
  
A tone sounded from elsewhere on the bridge. "A contact has just come out of FTL," warned the scanning officer. "Unknown configuration."  
  
Tahrad blinked in confusion. The captain of the ship said, "What?"  
  
On the screen a much larger ship now moved over the yacht and toward them. Tahrad stared in shock at the colossal, dreadnought-sized vessel. It was shaped like a terrible aquatic monster, four great grasping tentacles and six smaller legs to the back. One of the legs started moving toward them.  
  
Then there was a bright light, a light that was the last thing Tahrad am Rimhar ever saw.  
  
  
  
  
Saren watched quietly as the Batarian dreadnought was utterly annihilated. Only once it was gone, its crew dead, did he speak. "The operation was a failure. We may not get another chance."  
  
" _It is irrelevant_ ," replied the mechanical voice of his ally. On his viewer, Saren watched Sovereign turn toward the yacht briefly. " _Our return cannot be stopped._ "  
  
"I'm still looking," Saren assured his ally. "Eventually someone will find a beacon that will lead us to the Conduit."  
  
" _Good. I am expecting great things from you, Saren. Prove your worth. Prove the worth of your species._ "  
  
There was a burst of energy, and the giant living ship was gone.  
  
Saren looked down to Benezia. She had a confused glaze over her eyes. "What… what is he talking about?"  
  
"You'll find out."  
  
"Saren…" She stopped, as if confused.  
  
"This way, Matriarch." Saren helped her up and led her toward the rear compartments, where her staff and guards waited with the device Sovereign had left with him. "You are getting there. It won't be long until you understand what is at stake."  
  
"I… yes." She nodded slowly. "I need to know what is at stake. For us to survive. For… for my daughter to survive. My Little Wing…"  
  
Saren said nothing more.  
  
  
  
  
With the return of the _Koenig_ to the _Aurora_ , Barnes had been hit by the usual paperwork on managing repairs now that the ship was back in "drydock". It was only on hearing what time it was that he dashed, cursing, from his place in Main Engineering (and having to run back in to grab something, much to the bemusement of Lieutenant Poniatowski). He ran back to the _Aurora_ via the airlock and to the nearest set of deck-to-deck ladders, not bothering with a lift that might take too long to get to him.  
  
His heart was pounding and he was nearly out of breath when he stormed into the main shuttle bay. "Wait!" he gasped.  
  
Eyes turned toward him. Robert and Julia exchanged curious looks. Secretary Onaram said nothing. Neither did the Quarians, just now getting into their shuttle to depart from the _Aurora_.  
  
Barnes sucked in a deep breath before managing, "Hey, Tali, a moment."  
  
Rael and Shala'Raan looked to Tali, who was about to step in ahead of them. She gave them a quizzical look. Shala nodded and Tali took it as permission. She walked up to Barnes. "I was wondering if you were going to say goodbye."  
  
"Yeah, well, I was busy with repair work, lost track of time." Barnes blushed a little. "It's like that sometimes."  
  
"I understand."  
  
"Anyway, yeah, uh…" Barnes brought up the hand he was keeping to his side, revealing what he was holding. "I thought I'd give you a farewell gift." He held it out to her.  
  
Tali picked up the item by its handle and studied the other end. "An… auto-spanner?"  
  
"Yep. Top of the line model, bought it myself. Best I've ever seen." He smiled and nodded. "I'd like you to have it."  
  
"Well, I…" Tali looked from the tool to him. "I don't know what to say… It's a nice tool, and… but… are you sure…?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure," Barnes assured her. His smile was wistful. "An engineer always needs good tools, after all."  
  
"We do." Tali looked it over for a moment. "Is that… it has an auto-adjusting head?"  
  
"And an extender to get to those bolts that make you wonder if the designers ever had to work on their own crap."  
  
"Oh, _keelah_ , I know what that's like." Tali looked it over for another moment before she gently slung the auto-spanner to her belt. "Thank you, Tom. It's a wonderful gift. It's…" She started to giggle.  
  
"Hrm?"  
  
"It's just… it's funny," she said, stopping for the moment. "Normally something like this is brought back from a Pilgrimage to be shared with the Fleet." Tali laughed again. "But I'm not on Pilgrimage yet, so it doesn't count."  
  
"So you don't…?"  
  
"Oh, no, no, I… I'm sorry, I'm still bad at interacting with other people, I'm afraid I've made it sound like…" Tali stopped and considered her next words. "It is a wonderful gift. Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome." Barnes looked up to the others. Julia and Robert were clearly trying to hide amusement. It was fairly clear that Secretary Onaram and the Quarian Admirals were quite ready to get going, though. "So, well, good luck. On your Pilgrimage. And if you decide you want to try and spend it serving with the Alliance or something… let me know. I can think of a few places that could use a damn good engineer."  
  
There was no way for him to know the smile that appeared on Tali's face, but somehow he could sense it. "I'll keep that in mind. Good luck to you, Tom. _Keelah selai_."  
  
"Yeah, Key-luh see-lie… Kee…" He stopped. "What you said."  
  
They shared a last handshake and Tali returned to her father's side. They boarded the shuttle last. Moments later its maneuvering thrusters fired and the craft lifted from the shuttle bay floor and turned toward the now-open dock, which it flew through in a burst of speed.  
  
Secretary Onaram was quick to leave, having other matters to attend to, but Robert and Julia stepped up to their friend. "It looks like she made an impression," Julia said brightly.  
  
"Yeah." Barnes nodded. "She's one hell of an engineer. I should have seen it from the beginning. I was a jackass and didn't."  
  
"Well, we love you, all the same," Julia assured him. "So, up for some real food now that you're back home?"  
  
"I suppose, yeah." He briefly looked back to the end of the shuttle bay.  
  
"Wondering if you'll see her again?" Robert asked.  
  
"A bit, yeah," Barnes admitted. "I never got to introduce her to Scotty, after all. But it's a big Multiverse, so there's no telling where she'll end up when she's off on that Pilgrimage."  
  
"True," Robert agreed. He smiled. "But somehow, I think we might see her again. The Multiverse works like that, sometimes."  
  
"Is that your life force mumbo jumbo thing or…?"  
  
"Eh… not really. Just a feeling." Robert's smile turned into a playful smirk. "Don't ruin the moment, Teddo."  
  
Barnes returned a fake glare at that. "You know how I feel about that name, oh brooding one."  
  
Julia sighed and shook her head at them, smiling. "Stop ruining the moment, you two, and let's go enjoy dinner."


End file.
